Course overview
The course focuses on basic hands-on machining practice on lathes, milling machines and grinders. It includes set-up, tool selection and methods used on various materials such as steel, aluminum and brass. Moreover, it addresses reading and editing of CNC programs, setup, and maintenance of tool holders, tooling and work holding and adjustments of work and tool offsets. Finally, it covers operation and programming of CNC machine tool using manual programming and CAMsystems.
Participants in piloting
The course is fundamental for mechanical engineering students and enrolled 120 students in the 2nd year of undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Mechanical and Precision Engineering. The course is mandatory in the formal curriculum of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Equipment and Technologies of the Technical University of Gabrovo.
Use of ALIEN services and tools
During the course of CNC Tools, Machines and Technologies, students were exposed to active and problem-based learning in the contexts of a team project “CUTTING TOOLS. TYPES. STRUCTURAL AND GEOMETRIC COMPONENTS”, which was done during their lab practice and involving e-reading, practical work and analytical and critical thinking. The laboratory part of the course was based on problem-based learning and was performed on workbenches with instrumentation, drawings and computers.
First, the students got acquainted with e-resources and drawings of tools and work pieces. Then using e-catalogues the teams selected a carbide tip and a holder taking into consideration the workpiece drawing.
Finally, each team presented the way they had chosen the tip and holder and how they would install it on the lathe. After some practical work followed again – the students installed the selected cutting tool on a universal lathe so that its nose coincided with the workpiece axes.
The active learning activities allowed students to use online resources for educational and professional purpose, to analyze data and compare results. It also improved their team work, analytical skills and critical thinking, communication and presentation skills.
