(Dr. Thomas Kurfess, advisor)

"Open Architecture and Calibration of a Cylindrical Grinder"

Abstract

The goal of this research was to create an open architecture cylindrical grinder.  There are many cylindrical grinding machines on the market and in research facilities that are used for manufacturing and development that are paired with a specific control system and interface screen for the end user.  The algorithms in most OEM controllers are usually limited to PID compensation with acceleration and velocity feed-forward algorithms.  Typically, machine tool control architectures are closed, making implementation of other more advanced control concepts time consuming, cumbersome and typically unattainable. To create an open architecture machine to be used with any control platform without affecting the OEM control system, a new controller is integrated in the machine along side of the existing controller.  The end user can then make use of either the OEM controller or the open architecture controller developed in this research.

To create the open architecture controller, position sensors, amplifiers, a newly designed tachometer, power meter, relays, contactors, and interface circuits are added to the cylindrical grinder.  The machine characteristics are found by dynamic and static stiffness tests.  A laser interferometer is used to create position error maps as well as position error equations for more precise placement capabilities. The open architecture controller in conjunction with the measured machine characteristics, enable the implementation of a variety of advanced controllers.