The main problem is that the cause and effect of certain faults are still unclear. More research is required to find out which sensors are more adequate for monitoring specific faults so that redundant information can be minimized. Furthermore, more work has to be done to reduce the size and cost of the sensors so that a ‘complete sensing’ approach can be seriously taken into account. | Sensors in Manufacturing. Edited by . Tonshoff I. Inasaki Copyright 2001 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH I 277 ISBNs 3-527-29558-5 Hardcover 3-527-60002-7 Electronic The main problem is that the cause and effect of certain faults are still unclear. More research is required to find out which sensors are more adequate for monitoring specific faults so that redundant information can be minimized. Furthermore more work has to be done to reduce the size and cost of the sensors so that a complete sensing approach can be seriously taken into account. References 1 Barthel K. Trunzer W. Laser-Praxis 1994 10. 2 Anon. Opto Laser Eur. 1997 3. 3 Schwede H. Kramer R. in Proceedings of ICALEO 1998 Orlando FL . 4 Eg Prometec UFC60 . 5 . 6 Friedel R EuroLaser 2000 1. 7 Tönshoff . Schumacher J. in Proceedings of ICALEO 1996 Detroit MI. 8 Ikeda T. Kojima T. Tu . Ohmura E. Miyamoto I. Nagashima T. Tsubo-ta S. Ishide T. in Proceedings of ICALEO 1999 San Diego CA. 9 . 10 Rinke M. Dissertation Düsseldorf VDI-Verlag 2000. 11 Graumann C. Dissertation Düsseldorf VDI-Verlag 1998. 12 Tönshoff . Alvensleben. v. F. Ostendorf A. Hillers O. Stallmach M. in Proceedings of Photonics East 1999 Boston MA. 13 Seto N. Katayama AS. Matsunawa A. in Proceedings of ICALEO 1999 San Diego CA. Electrical Discharge Machining T Masuzawa University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan Introduction Electrical discharge machining EDM has been known as one of the non-tradi-tional machining processes since its invention in early the 1940s. However currently EDM is one of the most commonly used processes in various kinds of factories. Most EDM machines are used in the field of die and mold making. The material removal mechanism in the case of EDM is completely different from that in the case of highly conventional machining processes such as cutting and grinding. It is based on melting and vaporization of workpiece materials by heating .