On the feasibility of an integrated English wheel system

Derick Suarez; Fan Chen; Putong Kang; Ben Forbes; Margaret Gao; Orlyse Ineza; Kevin Benton; Nicholas Dewberry; Chandra Jaiswal; Balakrishna Gokaraju; Kornel Ehmann; Jian Cao

doi:10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.04.022

On the feasibility of an integrated English wheel system

Derick Suarez, Fan Chen, Putong Kang, Ben Forbes, Margaret Gao, Orlyse Ineza, Kevin Benton, Nicholas Dewberry, Chandra Jaiswal, Balakrishna Gokaraju, Kornel Ehmann, Jian Cao^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The English wheel is a highly flexible traditional metalworking tool that allows skilled craftsmen to form compound curves on sheet metal panels. Historically, geometric accuracy and repeatability of formed panels using the English wheel have been tied to the operator leading to limited industrial adoption. This paper presents a novel framework for an integrated English wheeling system that leverages robot forming with a newly developed adaptable gripper/end-effector, metrology for deformed geometry tracking and tolerance measurements, integrated sensors for real-time forming force measurements and control, computational modeling for tracking pattern/toolpath generation, and virtual reality (VR) for seamless integration. Sample panels are formed using the integrated system revealing new insights on the forming forces during the process – highlighting why an integrated system is desirable. Concepts from the proposed framework can be applied to other robotic forming processes and its merit is discussed under current digital manufacturing and industry 4.0 literature.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	665-675
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Manufacturing Systems
Volume	74
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.04.022
State	Published - Jun 2024

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge support from the NSF Engineering Research Center for Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing Moving from Evolution to Revolution (ERC-HAMMER) under Award Number EEC-2133630. The authors would like to acknowledge support from the NSF Engineering Research Center for Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing Moving from Evolution to Revolution (ERC-HAMMER) under Award Number EEC-2133630. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Northwestern Class of \u201923 Mechanical Engineering (ME) seniors and instructors who partook in the senior ME design capstone class (winter-spring) and developed the compliant gripper.

Keywords

Automation
Digital Manufacturing
Flexible Metal Forming
Industry 4.0

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Control and Systems Engineering
Software
Hardware and Architecture
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.04.022

Cite this

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title = "On the feasibility of an integrated English wheel system",

abstract = "The English wheel is a highly flexible traditional metalworking tool that allows skilled craftsmen to form compound curves on sheet metal panels. Historically, geometric accuracy and repeatability of formed panels using the English wheel have been tied to the operator leading to limited industrial adoption. This paper presents a novel framework for an integrated English wheeling system that leverages robot forming with a newly developed adaptable gripper/end-effector, metrology for deformed geometry tracking and tolerance measurements, integrated sensors for real-time forming force measurements and control, computational modeling for tracking pattern/toolpath generation, and virtual reality (VR) for seamless integration. Sample panels are formed using the integrated system revealing new insights on the forming forces during the process – highlighting why an integrated system is desirable. Concepts from the proposed framework can be applied to other robotic forming processes and its merit is discussed under current digital manufacturing and industry 4.0 literature.",

keywords = "Automation, Digital Manufacturing, Flexible Metal Forming, Industry 4.0",

author = "Derick Suarez and Fan Chen and Putong Kang and Ben Forbes and Margaret Gao and Orlyse Ineza and Kevin Benton and Nicholas Dewberry and Chandra Jaiswal and Balakrishna Gokaraju and Kornel Ehmann and Jian Cao",

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year = "2024",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.jmsy.2024.04.022",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "74",

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AU - Suarez, Derick

AU - Chen, Fan

AU - Kang, Putong

AU - Forbes, Ben

AU - Gao, Margaret

AU - Ineza, Orlyse

AU - Benton, Kevin

AU - Dewberry, Nicholas

AU - Jaiswal, Chandra

AU - Gokaraju, Balakrishna

AU - Ehmann, Kornel

AU - Cao, Jian

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - The English wheel is a highly flexible traditional metalworking tool that allows skilled craftsmen to form compound curves on sheet metal panels. Historically, geometric accuracy and repeatability of formed panels using the English wheel have been tied to the operator leading to limited industrial adoption. This paper presents a novel framework for an integrated English wheeling system that leverages robot forming with a newly developed adaptable gripper/end-effector, metrology for deformed geometry tracking and tolerance measurements, integrated sensors for real-time forming force measurements and control, computational modeling for tracking pattern/toolpath generation, and virtual reality (VR) for seamless integration. Sample panels are formed using the integrated system revealing new insights on the forming forces during the process – highlighting why an integrated system is desirable. Concepts from the proposed framework can be applied to other robotic forming processes and its merit is discussed under current digital manufacturing and industry 4.0 literature.

AB - The English wheel is a highly flexible traditional metalworking tool that allows skilled craftsmen to form compound curves on sheet metal panels. Historically, geometric accuracy and repeatability of formed panels using the English wheel have been tied to the operator leading to limited industrial adoption. This paper presents a novel framework for an integrated English wheeling system that leverages robot forming with a newly developed adaptable gripper/end-effector, metrology for deformed geometry tracking and tolerance measurements, integrated sensors for real-time forming force measurements and control, computational modeling for tracking pattern/toolpath generation, and virtual reality (VR) for seamless integration. Sample panels are formed using the integrated system revealing new insights on the forming forces during the process – highlighting why an integrated system is desirable. Concepts from the proposed framework can be applied to other robotic forming processes and its merit is discussed under current digital manufacturing and industry 4.0 literature.

KW - Automation

KW - Digital Manufacturing

KW - Flexible Metal Forming

KW - Industry 4.0

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ER -

On the feasibility of an integrated English wheel system

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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