(NC)
Control of a system or device by direct input of data in the form of numbers, letters, symbols, words, or a combination of these forms.
It is a principal element of computer-integrated manufacturing , particularly for controlling the operation of machine tools. NC is also essential to the operation of modern industrial robots . The two basic types of NC systems are point-to-point, in which a device is programmed to perform a series of motions with fixed starting and stopping points, and continuous-path, in which a point-to-point programmed device has sufficient memory to be "aware" of its former actions and their results and to act in accordance with this information.