A configurable on-line monitoring system towards energy consumption of machine tools

The environmental impacts of manufacturing systems can be improved by reducing the energy consumption of machine tools. To meet the requirements for reducing energy consumption of machine tools, it is critical to monitor and analyze energy usage of machine tools. However, machine tools are composed of multiple energy consumers and the requirements towards monitoring energy of machine tools are different. This paper proposes a configurable on-line monitoring system to obtain energy data for the specific energy consumption components of machine tools, which can be used to analyze energy characteristics considering different energy monitoring requirements and different machine tools. The case study of the system implemented in lathe and machining center shows that the system can be used to monitor energy consumption of different types of machine tools and satisfy different monitoring requirements of energy consumption. The results can provide a better understanding of energy and support refined energy management in the manufacturing system.