tool itself. That is why they developed a series of part probes, the newest of which is the RLP 40. It was designed for use in turning centers that use RF for communication. “RF is much better in those hostile turning center environments,” he ex- plained. “With an 8 or 10" [203 or 254-mm] chuck and chips flying, you need something rugged and reliable.”
ing new ones. For example, Marposs introduced their new process and monitoring solution called Genior Modular control system to meet this requirement. “The principle behind the Genior system is to provide a solution that can monitor pro- cesses without human intervention,” said Jorge Pena-Mena, general manager for Artis Systems of Marposs that produces the Genior system. Automation reduces training require- ments as well. The Genior system is designed for high-volume operations through providing a system that requires such little minimal human interaction. Genior consists of a main module that connects with the machine control’s PROFIBUS system for monitoring the machine’s spindle and feed drives, and a universal measuring transducer for use with various ARTIS sensors for measuring force-strain, acoustic emission and vibration, and acceleration.
Large numbers of complex monitoring processes can be mastered with easily operable monitoring such as the Genior Modular from Artis, a division of Marposs.
If you are undecided about the choice between IR/Opti-
cal or RF, Heidenhain (Schaumburg, IL) will offer in the first quarter of 2013 hybrid probes with both IR and RF, the TS 460 for workpiece measurement and the TT 460 for tool mea- surement. Users can select either mode: radio when extended range and large amounts of data are required; IR when higher accuracies and fast signal transmission are needed. “Cus- tomers were asking for this,” explained Dan Vitullo product specialist, CNC products of Heidenhain. “Even though there are LOS issues with IR, however, there are still applications where they still want the IR technology because it is a faster transmission and you can trigger the probe faster. You can get a more accurate and repeatable triggering using IR,” he said. IR also transmits more data. Who in the industry is looking for this? “We see both
aerospace and automotive customers. Aerospace is espe- cially excited about this. It is good for any application where the part on the machine is large enough to impede LOS for the probe to transmit to the receiver unit,” he answers. “Or in five-axis machining where you are down in the part trying to get a measurement.”
Integration and Operators
Integrating probes and sensors on machining centers and programming them easily may be just as important as creat-
As Pena-Mena describes it, the Genior system is aimed at creating a cell with five or six machining centers operated by only one person. “It is turning into a world where humans are less involved in the machining process,” he said. ME