Automation of grinding of metalcastings is desirable for many reasons. The major reasons are dangerous working conditions, low productivity, and inconsistency in human operations. As an approach to the automating grinding process, a gantry-driven grinding machine is proposed to manipulate an industrial hand grinder and control the grinding force applied to the work piece. To increase the material removal rate of the grinding machine, a grinding force control method is brought forward. This method suggests that the normal grinding force should be controlled to a desired constant value. A double closed-loop grinding force control system is designed to perform the grinding force control.

This thesis develops the models of the servo system and the grinding process. Based on these models, a force controller is designed with the ability of tracking the desired force set point. The proposed closed-loop grinding force control system is verified by simulation.