TEST & MEASUREMENT
From detecting tool wear to enabling automatic tool changes, sensors play a vital role in the implementation of smart tooling methodologies for CNC machines. But how can manufacturers ensure that these sensors are up to scratch? In this article, Ross Turnbull, director of Business Development and Product Engineering at ASIC design and supply specialist Swindon Silicon Systems, explores the benefit of custom ICs in intelligent tooling applications.
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ncorporating sensors and connectivity features within tooling solutions, otherwise known as smart tooling, allows manufacturers to benefit from real-time data and automation capabilities, helping to improve overall production efficiency.
MEASURING WEAR AND TEAR An increasingly common use of sensors within CNC machines is for tool wear monitoring. Measuring and predicting tool wear helps to limit product quality issues caused by the degradation of cutting tools over time. However, monitoring methods such as microscopes and laser devices require machining to be paused to inspect the tools, therefore increasing downtime and production costs. In contrast, sensor technology offers a more time-efficient means of ascertaining tool condition. One example is the micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer, which is commonly used to measure changes in vibration patterns during machining. Understanding vibration can help manufacturers to avoid detrimental changes to surface quality and tool geometry. Piezoresistive MEMS accelerometers measure vibration using a cantilever beam with a proof mass at its end and a piezoresistive patch in the beam’s core. When the device moves, inertia causes the beam to bend, altering the mass
THE BENEFIT OF ASICS IN INTELLIGENT TOOLING APPLICATIONS
distribution of the silicon wafer. This deformation generates an electrical signal, proportional to the object’s acceleration.
Integrating these sensors into the tooling system can help to detect subtle changes in tool geometry and wear patterns, allowing manufacturers to schedule tool replacements before failures occur,
thereby reducing scrap rates and maintaining product consistency.
SMARTER TOOL CHANGES
Sensors are also indispensable within the automatic tool change (ATC) systems that are used on CNC machines used for different types of material processing, such as
Spring 2025 UKManufacturing
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