Real-time monitoring and control system of an industrial robot with 6 degrees of freedom for grinding and polishing of aspherical mirror
Aspherical mirrors have higher performance and lighter weight than spherical mirrors. However, it is not easy to process, measure, and evaluate their shapes. In particular, large aperture aspherical mirrors used in satellites require high precision and take a long time to process. The conventional process is machined using a computer numerical control with a gantry structure. However, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to process complex shapes due to lack of degrees of freedom. In order to overcome these problems, we developed a shape processing system using an industrial robot with 6 degrees of freedom. The system consists of toolpath generation program, real-time robot monitoring, and control program. We have verified the performance of the developed system through simulation software provided by the robot manufacturer as well as actual robot operation.
Ultra-precision Grinding Optimization of Mold Core for Aspheric Glass Lenses using DOE and Compensation Machining
The aspheric lens has become the most popular optical component used in various optical devices such as digital cameras, pick-up lenses, printers, copiers etc. Using aspheric lenses not only miniaturizes and reduces the weight of products, but also lower prices and higher field angles can be realized. Additionally, plastic lenses are being changed to glass lenses more recently because of low accuracy, low acid-resistance and low thermal-resistance in the plastic lenses. Currently, one fabrication method of glass lenses is using a glass-mold method with a high precision mold core for mass production. In this paper, DOE (Design Of Experiments) and compensation machining were adopted to improve the surface roughness and the form accuracy of the mold core. The DOE has been done in order to discover the optimal grinding conditions which minimize the surface roughness with factors such as work spindle revolution, turbine spindle revolution, federate and cutting depth. And the compensation machining is used to generate high form accuracy of the mold core. From various experiments and analyses, we could obtain the best surface roughness 5 nm in Ra, form accuracy in PV.
Neutron Residual Stress Measurements on Rail Sections for Different Production Conditions
Rail sectioning with subsequent neutron diffraction experiments has been used to assess residual stresses in the rails. In this study we present the results of neutron stress measurements performed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) on rail sections from rails that were produced under various conditions. Specifically, these are air-cooled, air-cooled and roller-straightened, head-hardened and head-hardened and roller-straightened. More significantly, a head-hardened and roller-straightened rail was also studied after service to elucidate evolution of the service-induced residual stresses. In the latter case both a transverse-cut slice and the central region of a 0.53 m long piece were studied. Measurements on this piece are the first in which triaxial stresses have been determined for an intact rail. Neutron strain measurements with 3×3×3 mm3 spatial resolution were successfully employed for transversally cut slices to verify the difference in the stress state depending on the production process. Although examination of slices allows determination of only two-dimensional stresses in the plane of the slice, additional measurements on obliquely-cut slices, which were also carried out, and utilization of FEM gives the possibility of reconstructing the full triaxial stress distribution. Together, these approaches provide a better understanding of rail fabrication and the possibility of improving the durability and safety of rails in the future.Copyright © 2004 by ASME