<title>Advanced reconfigurable machine for flexible fabrication</title>

Abstract

In a recently awarded ARPA Program to advance the state of the art of parallel actuated next generation machine tools, a vertically integrated team led by Martin Marietta is applying recent advances in electroceramic smart materials and advanced composites to achieve leapfrog advances in precision, flexibility and speed of machine tools. Specific approaches to achieve these advances include active vibration cancellation, improved control technology and design optimization using advanced structural and dynamic models. In this program, the team will integrate large, high-force actuators, composites, and active vibration control with The Ingersoll Milling Machine Company's innovative Octahedral Hexapod machine to develop to Advanced Reconfiguration Machine for Flexible Fabrication (ARMF3). The enhanced Octahedral Hexapod machine will provide new levels of machining flexibility while still retaining precision and low cost. This technology will have widespread impact on the flexible fabrication of materials-especially those that are tough-to-machine traditionally -in several industries, e.g., aerospace, defense, aircraft and automotive. PROGRAM OVERVIEWAn integrated team comprising machine tool builder, technology generators, Government laboratories, controls experts and users has been assembled to make performance enhancements to a revolutionary new machine tool -the Octahedral Hexapod -already under development by Ingersoll. The ultimate goal of this work is to enable affordable fabrication of small lot quantity, complex military components by improving its precision with active vibration cancellation devices, advanced composites, state-of-the-art structural dynamic modeling and machine characterization, and metrology. The baseline Octahedral Hexapod machine, conceptually illustrated in Figure 1, is a uniquely flexible development platform. The design advantages of 102 ISPIE Vol. 2447 0-8194-1796-3/95/$6.00 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 06/21/2016 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx

Development and Control of a 5-Axis Reconfigurable Machine Tool

“…Unfortunately, the design concept was not fully implemented, and some obstacles slowed down their research and development [7]. The reconfigurable Parallel Kinematic Machine (PKM) is another alternative to reconfigure machine tools [8][9][10]. Theoretically, PKMs have the potentials to achieve higher speed, higher accuracy, and deal with a heavier load.…”

“…Tripod-based PKMs can perform many different machining operations since the majority of the machining operations require a motion with five or less DOF [9]. A tripod-based PKM can be used as a stand alone machine or a module in a system.…”