Monitoring of cutting tool wear through images analysis

In the manufacturing systems, one of the most important issues is to estimate the rest of cutting tool life under a given cutting conditions as accurately as possible. In order to monitor the tool wear development during machining processes, the interface chosen between the working procedure and the computer was a digital image of the cutting tool detected by an optical sensor (video camera). Images, however, are not homogeneous. Contrast, definition, size and position of the tool vary from one detected image to another and they depend on the particular condition in which they was captured by an optical sensor. This paper is focused on the development of a procedure for the standardization of cutting tool digital images captured during machining tests. These cutting tool images with standard size and pixel density can be utilized for intelligent processing of image data aimed at automatic and real time tool wear characterization.