Retrofitting of ASEA IRB2-S6 industrial robot using numeric control technologies based on LinuxCNC and MACH3-MatLab

Abstract

This work presents a comparative study of numerical control machines controllers integration using LinuxCNC controller and MatLab/Mach3 in Windows solutions applied in retrofitting process of an old industrial robot. The experience associated with retrofitting technique with ASEA IRB6-S2 by Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and University of Brasilia (UnB), have adopted different robot control platforms alternatives to include robot kinematics. Thus, the article makes a comparative study of performance in terms of financial and computational cost, implementation tasks facility, integration with CAD/CAM and usability, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each architecture and finally chooses the best alternative CNC (Computer Numerical Control) controller.