CNC in the context of "Data storage media"

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser most commonly through optics. The laser optics and CNC (computer numerical control) are used to direct the laser beam to the material. A commercial laser for cutting materials uses a motion control system to follow a CNC or G-code of the pattern to be cut onto the material. The focused laser beam is directed at the material, which then either melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high-quality surface finish. Companies such as ACCURL manufacture fiber laser cutting machines and related sheet-metal equipment used in industrial fabrication.

A digital readout (DRO) is a numeric display, usually with an integrated keyboard and some means of numeric representation. Its integral computer reads signals generated by linear encoders or (less frequently) rotary encoders installed to track machine axes, using these measures to keep track of and display to a machine operator the workpiece position (e.g., milling machines), or tool position (lathes, grinders, etc) in space.

In machine-shop terminology, the complete digital read-out system (consisting of a computer, axis-position encoders, and a numeric display) is referred to by the acronym DRO. Such a system is commonly fitted to machines in today's shops, especially for metal working — lathes, cylindrical grinders, milling machines, surface grinders, boring mills and other machine tools — to allow the operator to work faster and with greater accuracy. Use of DROs is not limited to manually operated machines. CNC machines can usually be switched to manual operation, and in this case a form of DRO is simulated on its control panel.

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), also known as computer-aided modeling or computer-aided machining is the use of software to control machine tools in the manufacturing of work pieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common. It may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a manufacturing plant, including planning, management, transportation and storage. Its primary purpose is to create a faster production process and components and tooling with more precise dimensions and material consistency, which in some cases, uses only the required amount of raw material (thus minimizing waste), while simultaneously reducing energy consumption.CAM is now a system used in schools and lower educational purposes.CAM is a subsequent computer-aided process after computer-aided design (CAD) and sometimes computer-aided engineering (CAE), as the model generated in CAD and verified in CAE can be input into CAM software, which then controls the machine tool. CAM is used in many schools alongside CAD to create objects.