Transformation of Industry 3.0 CNC Machines to Industry 4.0 Machines: Sensor Selection and Integration

This paper focuses on selection of appropriate sensors for transforming existing CNC machines to Industry 4.0 machines. Retrofitting old machines with sensors is necessary to enable the machines toward industry 4.0. Although a lot of work related to sensor application in the machining process has been published, this way of machine transformation is still a problem as the process involves sensor integration and design complexities related to mountings. The present work proposes a framework for converting Intelitek Promi11-8000 machine to Industry 4.0 machine to provide real time data like feed rate, tool position, tool vibration, cutting forces etc. The data collected from sensors is transmitted by a server and stored in a database which can further be used to create dashboards and digital twins. This paper discusses the selection of required sensors, creating fixtures, designing mounts for proper placement for each sensor for converting Intelitek Promi11-8000 machine to IoT based machine. An optimal approach for reducing the overall number of sensors required is proposed. The web database created with the data obtained from the transformed machine is presented.