NUM’s control systems will be displayed at IMTS and are suitable for use in gear manufacturing. The embedded machining cycles for gear hobbing, shaping or grinding and automatic gear/tool alignment are governed by a graphical and conversational human/machine interface (HMI). According to the company’s press release, the PC- or CNC-based HMI allows operators to program the machine without knowledge of ISO code. Operators are guided by pictorial information, and entry screens provide a graphical approach that depicts the hob or grinding wheel, the gear and associated setup data. Users fill in the data in fields, and the program automatically generates and stores the information. It is also possible to combine conversational/graphical programming with ISO programming or use one or the other individually. Two system packages are available. The simple electronic gearbox package includes a CNC program that synchronizes cutter rotation and axial tool motion (Z-axis) with the rotation of the workpiece (C-axis). This configuration is designed for simple machines with three axes (X, Z and C) and a spindle. A high-speed control links from tool or axial input to the drive worktable. With the full electronic gearbox, the CNC adds tangential tool movement to the synchronization of the Z and C axes. This configuration is designed for applications with up to six axes (X, Y, Z, A, C and W) and a spindle and allows for manufacturing of bevel and helical gears with straight and conical cutting tools. A high-speed control links from tool, axial or tangential input to the drive worktable. Additional features of all packages include operator-prompted teach routines to find the first gear; a high-speed interface to tooth edge sensor for storing gear images; automatic hob shift management; helical, spur or worm gears; hobbing cluster gears via a number of sequential machining cycles; vertical or horizontal machine configuration; tooth modifications (crown or taper); tooth alignment to another gear on the same shaft; radial hobbing cycle (standard or single index); radial axial hobbing cycle (up to four cuts); tangential or diagonal hobbing cycle; integrated context-sensitive help file; manual or automatic part loading and clamping; and tailstock and coolant. The gear alignment option provides cutting tool and gear re-synchronization via a non-contact sensor, allowing for automatic tool-workpiece timing pickup when re-introducing a pre-cut or hardened gear into the machine.