On real-time contour error estimation for contour following tasks

In contour following applications, one of the main concerns is how to reduce contour errors. The common approach to this problem is to design the contour controller based on the real-time contour error information. However, for the free-form contour following tasks, there is a lack of effective algorithms for calculating contour errors in real time. To overcome this difficulty, this study proposed a real time contour error estimation algorithm. Based on the estimated contour error obtained from the proposed algorithm, an integrated motion control scheme is employed to improve the machining accuracy for a contour following task. Experimental results indicate that both the proposed contour error estimation algorithm and the integrated motion control scheme exhibit satisfactory performances.