With the rapid development of electronic technology and the birth of electronic computers, new breakthroughs in automation technology appeared in the mid-20th century. Digital signals control the movement and processing of machine tools, becoming a key factor in promoting the development of machine tool automation. This article will introduce the origin and development of CNC technology in detail, and summarize its importance in modern mechanical automation.

In the early 1940s, the American Parsons Company first used digital technology for machining, and achieved remarkable machining accuracy by processing the machining path with a fully digital electronic computer. In 1952, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology successfully realized the advent of the world's first CNC machine tool on a vertical milling machine. Afterwards, CNC machine tools were developed and applied by other countries. However, due to the large size and high power consumption of the CNC system at that time, its promotion outside the military field was limited.

In the 1960s, point-controlled CNC machine tools developed rapidly because they were simpler and easier to implement than contour control systems. At the same time, machining centers, as an important category of CNC machine tools, were widely used because they had automatic tool changers and the ability to perform multi-process processing.

In 1967, the UK established the world's first flexible manufacturing system (FMS), connecting several CNC machine tools, laying the foundation for subsequent development and application in other countries. With the advancement of microelectronics technology, computer numerical control machine tools (CNC machine tools) have gradually become popular and become the new representative of CNC machine tools.

In the 1980s, the emergence of flexible manufacturing cells (FMC) further promoted the development of CNC machine tools. FMC is composed of machining centers, turning centers, automatic loading and unloading and monitoring and inspection devices, etc. It can be operated independently or integrated into a more advanced integrated manufacturing system. Today, FMS has expanded to areas such as sheet metal cold working, welding and assembly, and has gradually transitioned from small and medium batch processing to large batch processing.

CNC technology has revolutionized the traditional machine tool industry and has become the foundation of modern mechanical automation. By controlling the movement and processing of machine tools through digital signals, CNC machine tools can achieve high-precision and high-efficiency processing operations. With the advancement of technology, CNC machine tools have become more popular and their costs have become lower, which has brought great impetus to the manufacturing industry. In the future, CNC technology will continue to develop, bringing greater innovation and development opportunities to the machinery manufacturing industry.