Automated Batch Measurement of Nose Radii of Cutting Tools Using Machine Vision

• Published in: INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING AND MECHATRONICS, SIMM 2023
• Main Authors: Yeong, Lim Teong; Peen, Woo Yian
• Format: Proceedings Paper
• Language: English
• Published: SPRINGER-VERLAG SINGAPORE PTE LTD 2024
• Subjects: Engineering
• Online Access: https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001313737300024

In manufacturing, the surface quality of the final product is governed by many factors including tool nose, machining parameters and type of workpiece. The conditions of the insert are one of the important surface quality determinants due to the close engagement of the tool with the specimen workpiece during machining process. Usually, profile projector or toolmaker's microscope is used for the measuring of the nose radius which requires displayed points to be selected from the nose profile, and hence the measurement becomes subjective because limited points are selected for circle fitting due to time constraint. In this research, the nose radius of batches of cutting inserts is scanned using high-resolution flatbed scanner to obtain the measurement using proposed algorithm. Batch measurement of radii using image processing techniques requires the cutting inserts to be scanned and cropped individually, extracting the tool tips and finally applying the sub-pixel edge detection before circle fitting to determine the actual radii. Less than 1% of mean errors were found using the proposed automated measurement as compared to 11% using the conventional profile projector. The outcome of the measurement shows that the flatbed scanning is able to produce high accuracy in radii measurement as compared to the digital profile projector. In addition, statistical results show that the proposed measurement using flatbed scanner is comparable to the high-end metrological measurement system (InfiniteFocus).