WorkChipSense
ChipSense: a CNC controller that listens to the cut
A desktop app for GRBL-based CNC routers. It hears strain and chatter in the spindle and slows the feed before the bit breaks. In beta, with signups open.
Visit chipsense.appWhat it is
ChipSense runs on the computer next to the machine and connects to a GRBL controller over USB. A microphone picks up the spindle. The app analyzes the sound in real time, scores how hard the cutter is working, and when the cut starts to sing it sends feed-rate override commands to the controller, slowing the G-code and pausing it if it has to.
The point is to adjust speed during the cut, not after it. Slowing down at the right moment prevents bit breakage, reduces burning, and leaves a cleaner surface.
The problem
A CNC router runs a job at the feed rate programmed into the G-code, and the material does not cooperate. Wood is not uniform: knots, grain changes and density shifts change the load on the cutter within a single pass. Operators tune feeds and speeds by ear before the job, then hope.
When a cut starts to chatter, the operator has seconds before the tool deflects or breaks. A stock GRBL setup has no way to react. ChipSense gives it one, using a signal the machine already produces: its own sound.
What we built
The desktop app, the control loop inside it, and the services around it. Audio analysis runs on the Web Audio API with an FFT over the spindle sound. A chatter detector feeds a closed-loop feed controller that is bounded for safety and tested against a suite of cutting scenarios. Serial control of the GRBL controller handles port detection, error parsing and automatic reconnection.
Around the app: a beta signup site, a license server so access is license-based, and a WebRTC signaling server. The stack:
- Electron desktop app for macOS and Windows
- React, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind
- GRBL control over USB serial (node-serialport) with auto-reconnect
- Web Audio API FFT analysis of the spindle sound
- Safety-bounded closed-loop feed controller with a scenario test suite
- Live strain meter and frequency spectrum
- Feed-rate override and position tracking during the job
- Beta signup site on Supabase
- License server (Node and Postgres) for license-based access
- Sentry error reporting and auto-updates
Where it stands
- In beta. Signups are open at chipsense.app and access is license-based.
- Desktop app version 1.0.0 for macOS and Windows, connecting to GRBL controllers over USB.
- The control loop runs on the acoustic signal alone: no extra sensors on the machine.
Run a CNC router and want in on the beta? Sign up at chipsense.app.
Have a machine that should react to its own sensors?
Signal processing, closed-loop control and the desktop software around it. We take a small number of client builds like this one.