Acoustic and vibration data acquisition system
Schmitt Europe

The SBS AEMS (Acoustical Emission Monitoring System) is the latest addition to the SB-4500 product. This optional add-in card for the SBS control system offers our customers the capability to monitor their grinding process with exceptional precision. The AEMS product uses proprietary acoustic sensor technology to monitor the very high frequency signals generated on the grinding machine structure during key events in the grinding process.

The benefits to the user include elimination of grinding gap time in the grind cycle, automatic notification of part crash conditions, and automatic quality monitoring of wheel dressing. The gap time in a CNC controlled grinding cycle, represents the time required for slow grinding wheel infeed prior to making contact with the work piece. The position of the workpiece with respect to the grinding wheel can only be known within the tolerances of the part and process. Rapid wheel infeed must therefore be stopped prior to where part contact is expected, and the wheel very slowly moved in toward the workpiece, until contact is achieved. This can add significantly to the time required to grind each part, reducing production efficiency. Gap elimination can provided by the system when used in conjunction with the machine's CNC control. The AEMS system allows rapid and automatic grinding wheel infeed right up to the point of initial contact with a new part loaded in the machine. The system can automatically detect the initial contact, and very quickly report this event to the machine control, which then stops the wheel infeed, without operator intervention required.