This study proposes a new approach for controlling metal spinning process using force and position feedbacks. Problems which usually occur during common practices of spinning can be categorized as follows: sheet metal wrinkling, fractures and springback. In order to avoid the above mentioned defects optimized tool path strategies are required. Additionally, forming forces must be under control. In this paper, basic force control strategies which have been proposed for robotics applications and adopted for spinning processes, have been thoroughly reviewed. Classical control theories such as PID controllers are integrated with the reviewed force controller strategies. In order to investigate the efficiency of the proposed control method , a test rig is designed which is composed of a manual lathe ,a geared stepper motor, a linear encoder ,a 3axis KISTLER dynamometer , a high speed motion control card and a high resolution 16channel data acquisition card. A spinning roller and tool post is manufactured and mounted on the lathe. Further, a supervisory program has been developed in MATLAB software which can control the process in real time. The program can also analysis and record the data.

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