Wireless In Situ Tool and Wired Structural Thermal Sensor Fusion for Robust Dry Milling Error Compensation
Journal
IEEE Sensors Journal
ISSN
1530437X
Date Issued
2026
Author(s)
Abstract
Thermal Error Compensation (TEC) is critical for maintaining dimensional accuracy in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools. However, traditional TEC systems relying solely on stationary structural sensors suffer from a measurement limitation in capturing the rapid, transient thermal dynamics of the rotating tool, particularly in dry milling where liquid coolant is absent. To address this issue, this study presents a hybrid sensing architecture based on the fusion of a wireless in situ thermocouple for tool-tip temperature measurement and a wired Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) structural temperature network. This dual-source approach enables simultaneous characterization of fast tool-tip thermal variations and slow structural thermal responses. A non-destructive, EMI-shielded Bluetooth Low Energy wireless module captures transient heat directly at the tool tip, ensuring continuous data availability (>11 h) independent of spindle speed, while the wired RTD network monitors the thermal inertia of the machine structure. To integrate these heterogeneous wireless and wired data streams, the framework employs a Ridge Regression algorithm selected via an 8-fold cross-validation protocol for improved generalization and mitigation of sensor multicollinearity. Experimental results in real-time dry milling demonstrate a reduction in maximum axial thermal errors from 25.7 μm to approximately 5.0 μm, corresponding to an improvement of over 80%. These results indicate that the proposed hybrid architecture provides an effective solution for precision manufacturing applications without reliance on coolant-assisted thermal stabilization.
Subjects
CNC Thermal Error Compensation
Dry Milling
Dual-Source Sensor Fusion
Smart Tool Holder
Wireless In Situ Temperature Sensing
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Type
journal article