JIITA, vol.9 no.2, p.1081-1089, DOI: 10.22664/ISITA.2025.9.2.1081
Jun-Yeop Lee, Thanh-Binh Nguyen, Byeong-Soo Go
Abstract. CNC gas cutting machines are essential equipment in the heavy industry sector, widely used for precision cutting and high productivity in processing thick steel plates (8-300mm). These machines operate based on a CNC gantry structure, enabling movement along the X-axis (longitudinal) and Y-axis (transverse) to perform cutting operations. The quality of the cutting process heavily depends on flame control, maintaining the gap between the torch and the workpiece, and cutting speed. However, maintaining a consistent gap is challenging during large steel plate operations, often requiring manual adjustment by the operator.
Although automatic height control and ignition systems have been developed, they face limitations such as torch interference, system instability, and frequent maintenance or replacement, resulting in continued reliance on manual operation in most workplaces. To address these challenges and achieve complete automation of the gas cutting process, the development of a high-performance system that integrates automatic height control and automatic ignition functionality is critical. Such a system can enhance cutting quality, improve operational efficiency, and ensure greater safety for operators.
This paper proposes the design and implementation of an automatic height control system for CNC gas cutting machines. A ring-shaped capacitive sensor is employed to ensure precise and consistent height control, while an STM32 microcontroller is utilized for processing sensor signals and managing the control system. To validate the reliability of the designed system, finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted, followed by experimental verification to demonstrate its performance.
Keywords; Automatic torch height control; Automatic Ignition; Gas cutting torch; Up&Down System; All-in-one
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