Design of a Flexure-Based Active Fixture System for Precision Robotic Deburring

Abstract

This paper presents on the design, prototyping and testing of a flexure-based active workpiece fixture system for precision robotic deburring. Current industrial robotic manipulators suffer from poor positioning accuracy, which makes precision tasks such as deburring, polishing and grinding challenging. Together, the robotic manipulator and the proposed active work fixture will create a dual-stage positioning system for precision tasks where position/force control is crucial. The main application is robotic deburring, which demands positioning accuracy and high compliance over large cutting forces. This first prototype active fixture system is designed as a planar motion table that is supported by parallel flexures, driven by voice-coil actuators, and uses high-resolution laser displacement pickups facilitate accurate motion generation with great backdrivability for force control. The theory behind the proposed design is shown, and a prototype is then used to validate performance. Overall the prototype flexure stage achieves a total stroke of 1 mm and a bandwidth of 21 Hz.