01 OVERViEW
GRIND TRAK™
-
GrindTrak™ is a portable diagnostic tool for online monitoring of grinding process.
-
It mainly comprises of two sensors, one for grinding wheel's motor power measurement and the other one for the wheel's in-feed displacement measurement.
-
This measurement data is collected as signals using a data acquisition unit.
-
The signals are later characterized into grinding cycle and then the process is further analysed for necessary improvement / optimization.
-
For such real-time data acquisition and analysis, a user-friendly software with an interface had been developed.
02 MY CONTRiBUTION
As my first project at Micromatic Grinding (MGT), I took over the task of enhancement of GrindTrak™ from internal research prototype to a commercial product. This has led to easier implementation of more systematic and scientific approach towards process or application engineering for internal business progress; and also assured to be a greatly valuable add-on offered to customers as an accessory to grinding machines for the first time in India.
​
​Along with the improved compactness and rigidity in the hardware, the GrindTrak™ software, which is a signal processing desktop application, was also upgraded to automation of data analysis entirely by me, which now communicates to controller directly using FOCAS.
​
In spite of less prior experience in LabVIEW programming, I took it as a challenge to learn it as well as to promptly deliver an advanced and commercially viable R&D product, whose sales and service procedures were also handled by me.
​
​
I have also trained the engineers of Application and Electrical departments multiple times for knowledge-sharing with hands-on demonstrations.
03 ACHiEVEMENTS
Portable Unit
First commercial version of the product
Less is More
Made more compact and less hardware-intensive; Easier to use - Plug & Play
No Extra Hardware
Directly on the machine itself now with the Signal Processing Software on Machine Panel
GrindTrak™ has evolved into three advanced versions during my tenure.
The latest GrindTrak™ 4.0 requires only 10% of external hardware compared to version 1.0 and is directly machine-integrable. This GrindTrak™ 4.0 is now integrated into every CNC grinding machine manufactured as a standard protocol across both the plants of MGT in India.
Bringing up a commercial vertical for the expertise of scientific understanding and hands-on manufacturing knowledge of our R&D team, Grinding Process Solutions (GPS) service was established for the benefit of our customers.
With my experience in signal analytics and problem solving capability, I had been a crucial member of GPS team that used GrindTrak™ for diagnosis of grinding process issues. I am happy to note that our team was able to increase the productivity of an Internal Grinding process at one of our customers’ by almost 40% without making any extra investment in machine hardware and by only improving the process efficiency and productivity.
04 LEARNiNGS
PROBLEM SOLVING
Diagnosing the grinding process, identifying the root cause of the problem and finding the solution
(As demonstrated in GPS)
SIGNAL PROCESSING
Signal acquisition with hardware noise filtering and digital smoothening of the signals for physical process characterization
(As demonstrated in GrindTrak software)
PROGRAMMING
A desktop application that has real-time data visualization, data logging as well as post-processing of the signal for analysis
​
(As demonstrates in GrindTrak software)
Consulting&
TRAINING
Interacting with customers of GrindTrak and GPS services. Training of Sales and Application Engineers of MGT for the use of GrindTrak
(As demonstrated in GPS)