Event-Based Temperature Control for Machining Using MTConnect

MTconnect is a newly-developed standardized communications protocol that is designed to make it easier to collect, transmit and leverage data from shop floor machine tools. However, MTConnect is a read-only architecture, i.e., it is currently used for monitoring and not control of manufacturing processes. This paper develops an event-based real-time control architecture using MTConnect and demonstrates feasibility on tool-tip temperature control of a small-scale CNC prototype machine. Analytical modeling provides a link between tool feed rate and tool-tip temperature. This model, which is verified through experiments, is used to develop both periodic sampling and eventbased PID control laws. The periodic PID controller is implemented on device to serve as a performance benchmark. Its performance is compared, both in simulation and experimentally, to an MTConnect-enabled event-based controller operating over the web.