Software for solving the integrated nesting and routing problem applied to CNC sheet cutting machines

The paper discusses the issue of developing algorithms and software for solving the integrated nesting and routing problem (INRP). This problem combines two known matters: 2D nesting problem (belongs to the class of Cutting & Packing) and the problem of cutting process optimization (Cutting Path Problem). The integrated additive objective function in INRP is a sum of used material cost for nesting and cutting process cost. The paper proposes a general software structure and a functional model of the automatic nesting and routing subsystem for solving an integrated problem in relation to the CNC sheet cutting equipment. The subsystem of automatic cutting and routing implements algorithms for finding an admissible nesting pattern for some types of parts and corresponding to this nesting pattern algorithms for the tool path generation focused on minimizing the integrated cost criterion. The algorithms are implemented as open source software using Python. The paper presents the results of numerical experiments for the CNC laser complex of sheet cutting. The developed software has also been tested for several types of practical tasks in control programs generation for various sheet cutting equipment.