Smart Cutting Tools and Smart Machining: Development Approaches, and Their Implementation and Application Perspectives

Smart machining has tremendous potential and is becoming one of new generation high value precision manufacturing technologies in line with the advance of Industry 4.0 concepts. This paper presents some innovative design concepts and, in particular, the development of four types of smart cutting tools, including a force-based smart cutting tool, a temperature-based internally-cooled cutting tool, a fast tool servo （FTS） and smart collets for ultra- precision and micro manufacturing purposes. Implemen- tation and application perspectives of these smart cutting tools are explored and discussed particularly for smart machining against a number of industrial application requirements. They are contamination-free machining, machining of tool-wear-prone Si-based infra-red devices and medical applications, high speed micro milling and micro drilling, etc. Furthermore, implementation tech- niques are presented focusing on： （a） plug-and-produce design principle and the associated smart control algo- rithms, （b） piezoelectric film and surface acoustic wave transducers to measure cutting forces in process, （c） critical cutting temperature control in real-time machining, （d） in- process calibration through machining trials, （e） FE-based design and analysis of smart cutting tools, and （f） applica- tion exemplars on adaptive smart machining.

A methodology for laser tool setters calibration and its precise mathematical model

On-machine tool setting is a pivotal approach in achieving intelligent manufacturing,and laser tool setters have become a crucial component of smart machine tools.Laser tool setters play a crucial role in precisely measuring the dimensions of cutting tools during the part machining process,focusing on tool length and diameter.As a measuring instrument,the positions of the laser axis of the laser tool setter need to be accurately calibrated before use.However,in actual calibration scenarios,traditional calibration methods face challenges due to installation errors in the tool setter and geometric errors in the measuring rod.To address this issue,this study proposes a novel calibration method.Initially,the calibration mechanism of the laser beam axis is established.Based on the accurate mathematical model of the laser beam and the measuring rod,and using the polygon clipping algorithm,the mathematical mechanism of the laser tool setter’s work is established.Then,a novel method is introduced to calculate the compensation distance between the laser beam reference point and the rod bottom center point at each moment during calibration.Furthermore,by utilizing the kinematic chain of the tool setter calibration system,a new calibration method is developed to accurately calibrate the position of the laser beam axis in the machine tool coordinate system.Finally,the accuracy of the calibration method is verified through simulation experiments and calibration tests.This method improves the calibration accuracy of the tool setter,and the mathematical model of the laser tool setter can be extended to the measurement of tools,thereby improving the precision of tool measurements.This research significantly improves the efficient production performance of smart machine tools.