Freeform surface grinding and polishing by CCOS based on industrial robot

Abstract

The grinding and polishing of freeform surface by using Computer Controlled Optical Surfacing (CCOS) technology are discussed. Instead of using Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machine, a 6-axises industrial robot TX200 from Stäubli Co. Ltd. is used as the motion platform. In order to perform the movement that CCOS technology needs, the coordinate system of the robot in processing is reviewed and the offline programming method for robot is presented. The material removal experiments during grinding and polishing process on the robotic CCOS platform are been carried out. A rectangular toroid surface workpiece and a circular off-axis parabolic surface workpiece are being fabricated on the robotic CCOS platform, and the latest results will be discussed here.