Automatic Tool Changer Research Articles

Entwicklung eines automatischen Open-Source-Werkzeugwechslers

Abstract Open source machine tools (OSMT) have the potential to democratize manufacturing by lowering access barriers, enabling new modes of value creation. However, there is still a lack of an open source automatic tool changer (ATC), due to its inherent complexity in terms of mechanical design and control. An ATC system is crucial for automating manufacturing processes that require multiple operations with different tools for a complete production step. This paper describes the design of a fully open source ATC concept, detailing its mechanical design and control schematic.

Robotical Automation in CNC Machine Tools: A Review

Abstract Robotics and automation have significantly transformed Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining operations, enhancing productivity, precision, and efficiency. Robots are employed to load and unload raw materials, workpieces, and finished parts onto CNC machines. They can efficiently handle heavy and bulky components, reducing the demand of manual labour and minimizing the risk of injuries. Robots can also be used in CNC machine tools to perform tasks such as automatic tool changing system, part inspection, and workpiece positioning. Automation technologies, including in-line inspection systems and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods, can be integrated into CNC machining cells to enhance accuracy and reduce scrap and rework in machining operations. These systems collect real-time data on process parameters and machine tool performance to predict maintenance, optimize machining parameters, and improve overall efficiency. In the current study, applications of robotics and automation in the modification of CNC machine tools are reviewed and discussed. Different applications of robotics and automation in CNC machine tools, such as automated material handling, automatic tool changing, robotic work cells, adaptive machining, machine tending, quality inspection, data monitoring and analysis, and production line integration, are discussed. Thus, by analysing recent achievements in published papers, new ideas and concepts of future research works are suggested. As a result, accuracy as well as productivity in the process of part production can be enhanced by applying robotics and automation in CNC machining operations.

A modular framework of robot gripping tools for human robot collaborative production lines

Robot gripping systems are subject to many technological transformations because of their need to adjust to a continuously changing market involving a large diversity of products and materials. This issue is further burdened by the high integration and control complexity in HRC environments. This paper proposes a modular framework of gripping tools with versatility in grasping and processing of different components based on automatic tool change solutions. Control and safety modules are being investigated for the flexible and safe handling of components. The proposed framework is being applied to two industrial scenarios from the white goods and the automotive sectors.

High Volume 3D Printer and Developed of High-Volume Extruders for Gelatin and Liquids

Over the last decade, the development of 3D printing technology has led to both increased interest and availability of these machines. The steady growth and demand have made 3D printing an affordable and consumer-friendly craft. Due to the shrinking barrier-of-entry, the technology is increasingly integrated into wider areas of science and research, as well as the manufacturing industry in general. The demand for individualized medical solutions is continuously expanding in multiple fields, such as medical training and patient-specific surgical guides—exposing a need for further development of these technologies for mainstream applications. The research areas of material science, life science, biotechnology, and medical applications have greatly benefited from the increasing availability of this technology—especially in regard to 3D printing high viscosity substrates which are biological, biocompatible, or bioresorbable. In this area of research and development, mainly micro-extrusion syringe-based systems are used. However, these extruders are limited to the volume of the utilized syringe. The presented work primary objective was to develop a multi-material 3D printer capable of processing substrates with a wide variety of viscosities, with a particular focus on biological-based substrates. The entire project was developed with an open-source mindset—with the intent of furthering future research possibilities within this space. A coreXY printer (0.5x0.5x0.5 m) was developed, including an automatic tool changing mechanism. A peristaltic pump and ink jet extruder were developed and manufactured to improve their processability for additive manufacturing and extrusion of hydrogels and as well as liquids.

A new embedded vision system for monitoring tool conditions in production lines using a combination of direct and indirect methods

Despite the high development of tool condition monitoring systems (TCMS), their assessment in harsher conditions, such as those found in production lines, remains an open question. To face this challenge, a methodology consisting of two independent hardware devices was proposed. The first consisted of sensors for indirect monitoring (electric current and vibration). The second was a new vision system, which was embedded in the automatic tool changer of the machine tool. It was demonstrated that the embedded vision systems provided clear images of step drill which, when used to train a convolution neural network (U-Net), allows the systems to achieve a 91 % accuracy. In addition, the use of feature vectors extracted from the electric current and vibration signals for training a traditional machine learning algorithm (random forest) achieved a 95 % accuracy. When the two approaches were fused, the accuracy increased to 96 %.

상용해석 툴을 이용한 고강성 링 타입 자동공구교환장치의 최적 설계에 관한 연구

With the constant development of industrial technology, precision processing systems are required to be diversified, accelerated, and enlarged. Consequently, interest in machine tools for the high-speed processing of large workpieces is increasing. automatic tool changer (ATC) is an automatic tool change device for automatically changing tools during work and is important part of the machining center. The ring-type automatic tool exchange device is advantageous in terms of the number of tools and the size of the magazine owing to its faster operating time and higher space efficiency than before, and ability to use large-sized tools. In this study, seven cases improved according to the thickness of the ring magazine selected using finite element analysis (FEA), and the optimal design was evaluated by static structural and dynamic analysis and multibody dynamics analysis for each case.

A Study on the Design of Automatic Tool Change based on Roller Gear Cam by Finite Element Analysis

A Study on the Design of Automatic Tool Change based on Roller Gear Cam by Finite Element Analysis

Integration of Robotic Vision and Automatic Tool Changer Based on Sequential Motion Primitive for Performing Assembly Tasks

Studies on intelligent robotic manipulation systems have typically focused on the programming efficiency, adaptive control of robotic arms, motion planning of robotic arms, and action diversity of grippers. In this study, a decision tree and visual recognition incorporate into a robotic arm to help it learn complex tasks. This study employed a task tree for the automatic planning of complex tasks, in which a decision-making model was used to generate complex task sets from a pre-built motion dataset in real-time performance. Moreover, the model can analyze the rationality of model steps, introduce new tasks, and perform object analysis. This work applies a support vector machine to identify the state of an object. The model selects a suitable gripper with a rapid gripper switch process by considering the characteristics of the targeting object. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach with suitable intelligence through the assembly task.

Load-dependent stiffness model and experimental validation of four-station rotary tool holder

The four-station rotary tool holder is used to clamp multiple turning tools and realize automatic tool change on a lathe. For the accurate estimation of structural stiffness, a deeper understanding of mechanical behavior within locking tool holder is needed. This paper is the first attempt to introduce a theoretical vertical stiffness model of tool holder. The rough surface joint effect is characterized by fractal geometry theory, including lower-upper tool holder plane joint, gear plate joint with trapezoidal tooth, screw spiral surface joint. The interface base bulk stiffness and the support bearing deformation are also unified in the stiffness modeling. Through the force interaction, the nonlinear relationship of load–displacement is established. The bidirectional static loading test under various locking forces is conducted using a commercial tool holder. The different intercepts of load-dependent displacement curve for various preloads are experimentally captured. The vertical stiffness under compression load is higher than that under tensile load. The predicted values agree well with experimental results by the micro-topography characterization of surface joints. The numerical simulation shows that vertical stiffness increases with the increase of compression load, locking force, fractal parameter D, nominal area of surface joints, and the decrease of dragged load, fractal parameter G.

Design for 3D Printing of a Robotic Arm Tool Changer under the framework of Industry 5.0

A significant shift from traditional lines to reconfigurable and reprogrammable robotic cells has occurred in Industry 4.0. Collaborative robots can be used for automating several tasks for improving Human-Machine Interface (HMI). The ability of a robot carrying out different tasks is proportional to the tools that it can use, thus it is crucial that robots are equipped with systems enabling efficient tool changing. Therefore, in this paper an automatic tool changer system is proposed. Based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the design and the specifications, a 3D printed prototype was made and tested on a UR 10 Collaborative Robot.

Development and implementation of a dynamic force measurement system for automatic tool changer system and drawbar mechanism in machining center

Automatic tool changer system (ATCS) and drawbar mechanism (DM) are two of key basic parts for realizing the automatic tool-changing cycle in machining centers. The dynamic force in a tool-changing cycle plays an essential role in condition monitoring, fault diagnosis, and failure warning for the ATCS and DM. However, existing force detection systems have limitations in practical application. In this paper, a novel dynamic force measurement system (DFMS) is developed, which is based on a force sensing element installed on the BT40 tool holder and operating through a wireless network. The force sensing element is used to convert the dynamic force into the electrical signal. Digital measurements are collected from the 24-bit sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter with a programmable gain array, which then are transmitted to the upper computer software via a wireless transceiver. Besides, a Teager energy operator based dual-threshold two sentences endpoint detection method is proposed to recognize the temporal onset and offset of each force event in the dynamic force recording. Experimental results show that the DFMS is reliable and suitable to measure the dynamic force in automatic tool-changing cycles.

Implementation of bi-directional searching Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) algorithm towards achieving cutting tool indexing time minimization in Automatic Tool Changer(ATC)

Determining the optimum cutting tool positions in a tool magazine is a challenging task which involves a huge searching space. Reduction of manufacturing time even by nanoseconds will highly be beneficial for all process industries. The prime focus of this research work is to reduce the total turret or tool indexing time in Automatic Tool Changer (ATC) which in turn curtails the idle non-cutting time of the bi-directional turret or tool magazine in a CNC machine. This variant of optimization problem falls under the category of non-deterministic hard polynomial (NP-hard) problem. Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) algorithm is proposed to determine the near optimal/global optimal solution with lesser computational cost. Five benchmark case studies are considered in this work to assess the robustness of the proposed algorithm. From the results, it is evident that the proposed algorithm yields solutions which matches or exceeds with the solution quality.

IntraOcular RoBotic Interventional System (iORBIS): Mechanical design for distally-actuated instrument insertion and automatic tool change

Parallelogram-based remote center-of-motion (RCM) mechanisms have been intensively deployed in intraocular surgical robots. However, the actuation of instrument linear movement in conventional parallelogram-based RCM mechanisms is mostly done by a linear actuator installed near the end-effector. This design inevitably increases the volume and mass on the patient side of the robot. In this work, we present a novel parallelogram-based RCM mechanism that allows distally-actuated instrument insertion and retraction. Compared to the existing work, the proposed mechanism decouples the translational motion from other rotational degrees of freedom with a simple design. This feature may further enhance the safety of delicate procedures like sub-retinal injection. Based on the kinematic analysis, a method is developed for assembly error estimation and correction. Moreover, an automatic instrument changer is integrated with the robotic manipulator. Experiments are conducted on a prototypical system to validate the feasibility of the proposed design. The RCM precision is shown as better than 0.5 mm. The time required for switching surgical instruments is demonstrated as less than 10 s.

Laser focus machining

Global Steel Manufacturing expands with help of a 2nd Bystronic; Charles Day shows no signs of slowing machinery investments; MJH Fabrications Ltd keeps on progressing; Amada brings automatic tool change to mid-range press brake market; plus, switch to Trumpf machines paying dividends

Design of Automatic Claw Changing Robot for Intelligent Sorting System

In recent years, China’s express business volume has steadily increased, which has greatly increased the operation volume and complexity of sorting operations. However, the current logistics sorting process is still in manual or semi-automatic sorting, and the technology in the process of express sorting cannot match the surging order volume in the express industry. And with the rapid development of e-commerce and the increasing personalized demand, customer orders gradually tend to be multi-variety, small batch, multi-frequency, and then put forward higher requirements for the flexibility of the sorting system. In this paper, aiming at the low sorting efficiency caused by the inconsistent standards of goods in the sorting process, based on the idea of automatic tool changing in machining center, a hand changing grasping robot is designed, which includes the structure of cluster, “claw library” and robot automatic claw changing structure. The design can realize the multi-purpose of one machine and improve the flexibility of the sorting system.

Influence of relative humidity and air temperature on the stopping position of the automatic tool changer in a CNC machine when using a pneumatic cylinder

The automatic tool changer (ATC) in computerized numerical control (CNC) milling machine often uses pneumatic dynamic sources. Friction in the pneumatic cylinder affects the ATC’s stopping position; this friction depends on many factors, including the air environment’s relative humidity and temperature. This paper presents the results of research on the effects of relative humidity (RH) and air temperature (T) on the stopping position of an ATC using a pneumatic cylinder. Studies were conducted at temperatures of [Formula: see text]C, [Formula: see text]C and [Formula: see text]C and relative humidity values of 51%, 75% and 99% for different speeds of the pneumatic cylinder (30, 50 and 100 mm/s). The results show that when the humidity increases from 51% to 99% and the temperature increases from [Formula: see text]C to [Formula: see text]C, the friction force decreases. The friction force is related to the relative humidity and temperature of the air. Thus, the deviation of the ATC’s stopping position depends on the relative humidity and temperature of the area under investigation.

A sparse representation of transients based on a parametric multiple-impulse dictionary for extracting impact features from an automatic tool-changing system

An automatic tool-changing system (ATCS) is one of the key sub-systems for realizing automatic tool changing in machining centers. Each step in a tool-changing cycle tends to result in impacts, and thus generates transients in the vibration signal. The impact features often reflect important operational information related to the ATCS dynamics, and a crucial problem for impact-feature extraction is how to effectively represent the transients. A novel method for extracting impact features from an ATCS is proposed, based on sparse representation theory. A parametric multiple-impulse dictionary is constructed by the unit impulse-response function of a damped multiple-degree-of-freedom system, whose modal order, amplitudes, natural frequencies, relative damping ratios and initial phases are directly identified from the vibration signal by an improved state-space method. This leads to high similarity between atoms and impact-induced transients. To improve the calculation speed, a split augmented Lagrangian shrinkage method is used to obtain optimal sparse coefficients. With the proposed method, both the moments of impact occurrence and the time intervals between transients can be effectively identified, and thus the impact features can be extracted. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by simulated signals as well as practical ATCS vibration signals. A comparison study shows that the proposed method is superior to empirical-mode decomposition, ensemble-empirical-mode decomposition and variational-mode decomposition when used for impact-feature extraction.

Analysis of follower motion law and optimization of fitting function in reverse design of cam

Because of its compact structure and reliable performance, the cam mechanism has been widely used in automatic machinery, such as automatic tool changing system, packaging machinery, automatic production line, automatic switching system and so on. At present, a variety of common drive and control devices have been developed with arc cam as the core component. The cam indexing mechanism is a new type of transmission device to realize high speed and high precision intermittent indexing motion. It is widely used and has been studied by more and more scholars at home and abroad, and has achieved remarkable results. At present, its theoretical research has matured. However, because the profile of indexing cam is a non-spiral surface in space, it brings inconvenience to the design and manufacture of cam. When the arc cam is damaged and the design parameters of the original arc cam cannot be known, the original arc cam profile can only be obtained by measuring limited data. In the original parameterized design method, the profile of the arc cam is determined by the motion law of the follower. If the motion law curve of the follower can be obtained, the contour curve of the arc cam can be obtained in reverse. So the problem of solving the profile surface of the cam can be transformed into a follower which meets the requirements the curve of motion law. Taking the CAM Z175 as an example, this paper describes in detail the whole process of motion rule analysis, optimization of the motion law curve and simulation verification in CAM reverse design.

Design and Research of Automatic Tool Changer System for Multistation Spring Forming Machine

Currently, the spring machine tool is fixed by means of manual clamping and positioning by bolts. The automation of the tool change is low, and the accurate value of the tool position cannot be determined. The automatic tool change system for spring machine was designed by using the standard functional parts of the automatic tool change system of the machining center. It mainly includes the design of the automatic loose clamp device and that of the multispindle automatic tool change arm. After static analysis, the deformation of the automatic tool change arm is 0.153 mm, which satisfies the requirements for usage. Kinematic analysis of the designed automatic tool change arm was carried out. After actual verification, the designed automatic tool change system of spring machine realizes the functions of the tools automatic replacement and positioning of the spring machine, which improves the automation of the spring forming equipment.

Tool Life Prediction of Ti [C,N] Mixed Alumina Ceramic Cutting Tool Using Gradient Descent Algorithm on Machining Martensitic Stainless Steel

In automated manufacturing systems, most of the manufacturing processes, including machining, are automated. Automatic tool change is one of the important parameters for reducing manufacturing lead time. Machining studies on Martensitic Stainless Steel was conducted using Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool. Tool life was evaluated using flank wear criterion. The tool life obtained from experimental machining process was taken as training dataset and test dataset for machine learning. Tool life model was developed using Gradient Descent Algorithm. The accuracy of the machine learning model was tested using the test data, and 99.83% accuracy was obtained.