Contouring accuracy improvement using a tangential contouring controller with a fuzzy logic-based feedrate regulator

In contour-following tasks, contour error reduction is an issue of much concern. Generally speaking, contour error is caused by the mismatched dynamics between each axis. To reduce the contour error, many previous studies have focused on developing proper controllers and/or more accurate contour error estimation algorithms. An alternative method for reducing contour errors is to exploit the idea of desired feedrate adjustment. This paper proposes using the approximate contour error information to develop a fuzzy logic-based feedrate regulator, which adjusts the value of the desired feedrate. Moreover, to further reduce contour error, an integrated motion control scheme is also developed. This scheme consists of a position loop controller with velocity command feedforward, a tangential contouring controller (TCC), a real-time contour error estimator, and the proposed fuzzy logic-based feedrate regulator. Several experiments on free-form contour-following tasks are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.