Incremental Encoder Lathe Automation

March 29, 2016

I have been working on a project to automate a manual lathing operation for our incremental encoder/optical encoder line.

To keep things simple, thumb switches allow the set point, along with some offsets for fine-tuning, to be entered.

I am not completely finished with project, but in the video below you can get a feel for how the machine will mill down the incremental encoder shaft.  We have control of the tool position to within .0001”