In case of fine machining processes, the cutting state monitoring by a skilled operator is impossible because the physical changes generated during fine machining are very weak. To realize the high efficient and precise fine machining, it is necessary to develop the sensor based monitoring system which is able to detect the fine changes of cutting state. In this paper, the fine acoustic emission monitoring system is developed to monitor the state of the fine machining process. The developed system consists of the AE sensor and the AE signal processing unit. And this has the high-sensitivity and bandwidth which can detect fine AE signal generated during fine machining process. In order to investigate the feasibility of the developed system, evaluation experiments were performed in the fine fixed-abrasive machining processes such as polishing and glass ferrule slicing. Experimental results show that the developed monitoring system possesses an excellent real-time monitoring capability at fine machining processes.
