Xhorse3D sponsored the contest with its desktop model of a five-axis machine and the digital twin technology, thus creating opportunities for engineering education development and helping transform ideas from concept to completion faster.

Prior to the national finals, participating teams went through several rounds of regional selection.

At the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao regional selection for the Digital Twin Innovation Application Special Competition, an opening speech was given by Professor Liang Zhaofeng, the head of the School of Mechanical and Electric Engineering of Shenzhen Polytechnic University. The contest was attended by a total of 69 teams brought together from 27 institutions of higher education to compete in the field of digital design and 5-axis manufacturing with 189 competitors.The core machine that helped students to execute complicated machining operations was the Xmachine XM-100 Desktop 5-Axis CNC Machining Center.

The students participating in the contest were greatly impressed with the machine. Compared to the 3-axis and 4-axis machines that they had previously used, the Xmachine has a much smaller size, touchscreen interface, clear-cut guided workflow, and automatic tool setting, resulting in less time spent preparing for work.Though able to provide machining precision similar to that of industrial CNC machine tools, Xmachine has a much lower barrier to entry. This allows students to see for themselves the efficiencies and accessibility of industrial manufacturing during the trials.Instructors were very supportive too. Due to its compact and low-cost design, schools can equip rooms with several systems allowing students to do practical activities simultaneously. This greatly enhances teaching efficiency in the classroom and thus makes the system highly relevant for the educational environment.

Besides hardware, Xhorse3D has developed a special five-axis CNC teaching management system for universities and vocational colleges, which brings together equipment monitoring, teaching administration, and data visualization.Developed on the basis of a local server, it consists of a back-end management platform as well as a display screen interface. It works closely together with the Xmachine Desktop 5-Axis CNC Machining Center, making it possible to progress in technology from the ordinary operation of the machine to intelligent and cluster-oriented teaching management.

This combination of hardware and software solutions makes the Xmachine one of the rare all-complete 5-axis teaching solutions on the educational market today and can be substantially more widely used.

The National 3D Digital Innovation Design Competition has been ongoing for 17 years now. This year’s finals required participants to design, manufacture and test the lifting capacity of a drone propeller on the spot. The challenge involved every stage of the product development process from prototype design and process design to performance simulation, manufacture, assembly and implementation of the digital twin.

The event used an additive-subtractive hybrid technology for manufacture, which reflects the reality of industrial processes, during which the component is produced first by casting or additive methods and then finished by precise 5-axis milling and machining methods. The technology chosen for the competition indicates the direction of future industrial manufacturing practices.Contestants were very impressed with both Xmachine’s precision-machining capability and its striking resemblance to full-size industrial machine tools. Moreover, the contest not only improved their software skills and teamwork but also gave them a comprehensive knowledge of engineering and manufacturing.

Additive-subtractive hybrid manufacturing is the promising future of our industry. Full-cycle engineering education lays the ground for new generation of professionals in the field of technology and engineering.

Here we saw emergence of future manufacturing engineers.