Development of automatic system for monitoring and removing of burr in side milling process of wood and wood-based materials

Computerized numerically controlled (CNC) routers have been used under hard processing conditions with the aim of raising productivity. Therefore, tool wear progresses rapidly, and burr formation occurs on the surface of wood and wood-based materials frequently. Because this burr formation greatly influences product quality and productivity, the development of a system that can monitor it automatically is needed. In this study, to monitor the burr formed because of tool wear, a charge-coupled device (CCD) vision sensor with high reliability in monitoring was installed in a CNC router, and a system for monitoring the burr formation in side milling and for removing it automatically was developed. In addition, verification experiments of this system were carried out. The main results obtained are as follow: The side milling system for monitoring burr formation was composed of a CCD vision sensor, a personal computer (PC) for CNC router control, and a monitoring PC to control other devices and collect sampling data for the burr formation. From the result of our verification experiment, it was found that this system could measure the area of the burr formed in side milling and remove it automatically.