This paper proposes a novel method for identifying carriage errors. A general mathematical model of a guideway system is developed, based on the multi-body system method. Based on the proposed model, most error sources in the guideway system can be measured. The flatness of a workpiece measured by the PGI1240 profilometer is represented by a wavelet. Cross-correlation analysis performed to identify the error source of the carriage. The error model is developed based on experimental results on the low frequency components of the signals. With the use of wavelets, the identification precision of test signals is very high.
Keywords: carriage error; cross-correlation analysis; error identification; multi-body system; wavelet transform.