Current Status and Outlook of Intelligent Machine Tool Development

Intelligent machine tools are the foundation of intelligent manufacturing. The intelligence of machine tools can be divided into three aspects: ① The intelligence of machine tool components themselves, including spindle units, feed drives, and structural components, for purposes such as thermal deformation compensation; ② The intelligence of the CNC system, evolving from the controller of processing equipment to the terminal of the factory network, allowing production data to be automatically collected, enabling real-time communication between machine tools and between machine tools and various management systems, making production transparent and integrating into the organization and management of the enterprise, creating intelligent factories; ③ The intelligence and networking of machine tools create conditions for the social sharing of manufacturing resources and the construction of remote, virtual cloud factories, thus moving towards a new era of shared economy and creating more value.

Traditional CNC machine tools drive machine components according to G-code and M-code to achieve relative motion between the tool and the workpiece, without any perception or feedback on the actual working state of the machine tool. During operation, the machine tool experiences deformation and vibration due to cutting force, inertial force, frictional force, and internal and environmental thermal loads, causing the actual path of the tool to deviate from the theoretical path, reducing processing accuracy, surface quality, and production efficiency.

The core of intelligent machine tools lies in constructing a model-based closed-loop processing system. By using sensors to monitor changes in the working state of the machine tool and the environment, such as temperature, acceleration, and displacement, real-time adjustments and controls can be made to optimize cutting parameters, eliminate vibrations, and compensate for thermal deformations, fully unleashing the potential of the machine tool. Another function of intelligent machine tools is network communication, serving as a node in the factory network, enabling mutual communication between machine tools and the workshop management system, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the production system.