Generally, in machining precision machine elements like ballscrews, machining errors could occur due to various reasons.
In this paper, influence of improper setting errors on machining was analyzed. From the analysis, misalignment between centers among the setting errors was found out to be an important one. Therefore an automatic compensation system was suggested to eliminate the misalignment between two centers.
In order to detect the alignment error, an optical measurement system using laser and photodiode was studied. The purpose of this system is to measure precisely the parallelism between movements of the tail stock and the carriage. Applying this system to a lathe, the alignment error between two centers could be measured precisely.
And an automatic adjustable center for 2D arbitrary positioning was designed and manufactured to eliminate the alignment error in machining workpieces supported by two centers. This measurement and adjustment system could be practically applied to reduce machining errors.
