Development of a Vision Based Machine Tool Presetter

Abstract

Generally, the tool presetter is utilized to align and measure some specific dimensions of a machine tool. It is classified into two types(contact and contactless) according to the measurement method, and the optical sensor based contactless scheme has the advantages of measurement flexibility and convenience. This paper describes the design and realization of an industrial tool presetter using machine vision and linear scaler. Before measurement, the objective tool is attached to the mechanical mount and is aligned with the optical apparatus. After capturing tool images, the suggested image processing algorithm calculates its dimesions accurately, combining the traversing distance from the linear scaler. Experimental results conforms that the present tool presetter system has the precision within ±20um error.