Chatter-free finish: General Industry Coverage

Social media isn’t the only the place application developers are finding lucrative opportunities. Valerie Pezzullo, who received a master’s degree in May from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University, took home $100,000 when she won first prize for her app at the MTConnect Challenge 2 as voted by attendees at the [MC]² 2014 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference.

Called “Machining Process Monitoring to Aid in Chatter Identification,” the app integrates data from the machine tool controller through MTConnect with data collected from sensors integrated into the cutting tool to allow a machine operator to monitor potential chatter-causing conditions during machining, Pezzullo explained. The sensors include one to monitor variations in the cutting force, which might indicate vibration at the tool/workpiece interface, and a thermocouple to monitor tool temperature and signal tool wear.

She added that sensors are connected through the CompactRIO controller from National Instruments Corp. and do not go through MTConnect. “There is not a lot of support for sensor integration through MTConnect,” Pezzullo said, “but if that were to change, then my app would be able to be completely MTConnect compliant.”

The application also allows an operator to keep track of part-specific information by scanning a part’s bar code and then saving the machining information in a file for future analysis.

MTConnect is an open, royalty-free set of communications standards to enable enhanced interoperability and information sharing between manufacturing equipment, devices and software applications. “The goal for the MTConnect Challenge was to foster innovative ideas and implementation of applications using MTConnect, as well as entice other application developers to create applications and, hopefully, expand the usage of MTConnect in manufacturing,” Pezzullo said. “I decided to use the challenge as a focal point and end goal of my thesis project.”