Conversion of the SCARA Robot into a Hybrid Manufacturing Workstation

Abstract

Combination of two or more manufacturing processes in a single machining setup, Hybrid Manufacturing (HM), has attracted more attention in both industry and academia over the last decade. We propose the workstation design, based on recycling and reusing somewhat obsolete industrial equipment. Modification of an existing SCARA type robot into an expandable HM workstation to combine CNC machining and fused filament fabricating into a single setup is explained. The paper explains the process of conversion of the 4-axes SCARA robot and describes implementation of new motors on the existing robot construction, development of new controls by using a modern version control software architecture. The robot was programmed to run using G-code for both additive and subtractive manufacturing processes. The prototype workstation has been built and its operation was tested on a sample hybrid manufacturing task.