scholarly journals Ball Bar Measurement on Machine Tools with Rotary Axes

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukitoshi Ihara ◽  

A ball bar is a very convenient device for measuring the motion accuracy of machine tools. Some trials have also been done for measuring motion accuracy of industrial robots. Nowadays, multi-axis machines such as five-axis machining centers are very popular, and therefore, there is increased demand for checking their accuracy. This paper introduces an idea for checking the motion accuracy of five-axis machining centers and diagnosing error sources by reviewing trial measurements on articulated industrial robots. There are two problems. The first problem is that the ball bar can measure only distances, and the second problem is that the ball bar is a linear device and therefore not suitable for the rotary axis motion of 5-axis machines and articulated robots. Finally, the test conditions for the measurement of the motion accuracy of a machine tool showing conical motion, by using the ball bar and ISO/DIS 10791-6 (which is currently being edited) are reviewed and verified.

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soichi Ibaraki ◽  
◽  
Yusuke Ota

This paper presents a scheme to calibrate the error map of the rotary axes of a five-axis machine tool. This is done by means of on-the-machine measurement of a test piece using a contact-type touch-trigger probe. The present probing-based approach is more suitable for efficient and automated “self-calibration,” than conventional calibration schemes, such as ball bar tests or R-test. It is thus advantageous in the application to periodic checking of the error map, or periodic updating of its numerical compensation. In the present approach, a test piece of arbitrary geometry, e.g. a raw unmachined workpiece, can be used as the probing target. An experimental demonstration is presented.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soichi Ibaraki ◽  
◽  
Yu Nagai ◽  
Hisashi Otsubo ◽  
Yasutaka Sakai ◽  
...  

The R-test measures the three-dimensional displacement of a precision sphere, attached to a machine spindle, by using three displacement sensors fixed to the machine’s table. Its application to error calibration for five-axis machine tools has long been studied. This paper presents software for analyzing the measured R-test trajectories for error diagnosis and numerical compensation for rotary axis location errors and error motions. The developed software first graphically presents the measured R-test trajectories to help a user intuitively understand error motions of the rotary axes. It also numerically parameterizes the rotary axis geometric error parameters, and then generates a compensation table that can be implemented in some latest-generation commercial CNC systems. An actual demonstration of its application to a five-axis machine tool with a universal head (two rotary axes on the spindle side) is presented.


Author(s):  
Xiaogeng Jiang ◽  
Robert J Cripps

A double ball bar (DBB) is used extensively to evaluate the geometric and dynamic performance of three-axis machine tools by means of the XY, YZ and XZ planar circular tests. However, research using a DBB to test the rotary axes of five-axis machine tools simply, quickly and effectively is scarce. In this paper, a method having two steps to identify the imprecision of the rotary axes caused by the position-independent geometric errors (PIGEs) is presented for a tilting rotary type five-axis machine tool using a DBB. The first step is designed to evaluate two rotary axes with one setup. Its advantage of fast diagnosis effectively reduces the machine down time, and thus can be employed as a quick testing approach of the machine tool. However, if some of the diagnosed errors fall outside their tolerances, a more accurate but slower check needs to be carried out due to the limitation of the first step. The second step aims to test the two rotary axes separately, each in two sub-steps. By means of varying the position of the pivot, the A- and C-axes can be tested individually. Both steps are performed with only one axis moving, thus simplifying the error analysis. Implementation of the proposed methods was carried out on a Hermle C600U five-axis machine tool. To show the validity of the method, the identified PIGEs are compensated for in each step, which suggests that the first step can be used as a fast and preliminary indication of a five-axis machine tool’s performance, whilst the second can be carried out if a more thorough evaluation is needed.


Author(s):  
Peng Xu ◽  
Benny C. F. Cheung ◽  
Bing Li

Calibration is an important way to improve and guarantee the accuracy of machine tools. This paper presents a systematic approach for position independent geometric errors (PIGEs) calibration of five-axis machine tools based on the product of exponentials (POE) formula. Instead of using 4 × 4 homogeneous transformation matrices (HTMs), it establishes the error model by transforming the 6 × 1 error vectors of rigid bodies between different frames resorting to 6 × 6 adjoint transformation matrices. A stable and efficient error model for the iterative identification of PIGEs should satisfy the requirements of completeness, continuity, and minimality. Since the POE-based error models for five-axis machine tools calibration are naturally complete and continuous, the key issue is to ensure the minimality by eliminating the redundant parameters. Three kinds of redundant parameters, which are caused by joint symmetry information, tool-workpiece metrology, and incomplete measuring data, are illustrated and explained in a geometrically intuitive way. Hence, a straightforward process is presented to select the complete and minimal set of PIGEs for five-axis machine tools. Based on the established unified and compact error Jacobian matrices, observability analyses which quantitatively describe the identification efficiency are conducted and compared for different kinds of tool tip deviations obtained from several commonly used measuring devices, including the laser tracker, R-test, and double ball-bar. Simulations are conducted on a five-axis machine tool to illustrate the application of the calibration model. The effectiveness of the model is also verified by experiments on a five-axis machine tool by using a double ball-bar.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Gao ◽  
Jihong Chen ◽  
Shusheng Liu ◽  
Xiukun Yuan ◽  
Pengcheng Hu ◽  
...  

Abstract Due to their superior machining quality, efficiency, and availability, five-axis machine tools are important for the manufacturing of complicated parts of freeform surfaces. In this study, a new type of the five-axis machine tool was designed that is composed of four rotary axes as well as one translational axis. Given the structure of the proposed machine tool, an inverse kinematics analysis was conducted analytically, and a set of methods was then proposed to address the issues in the kinematic analysis, e.g., the singularity and multi-solution problems. Compared with traditional five-axis machine tools, which are typically composed of three linear axes and two rotary axes, the proposed machine tool exhibited better kinematic performance with machining parts with hub features, such as impellers, which was validated by simulations and real cuttings.


2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soichi IBARAKI ◽  
Yoshiaki KAKINO ◽  
Takayuki AKAI ◽  
Naoshi TAKAYAMA ◽  
Iwao YAMAJI ◽  
...  

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