The Improvements of Thermal Spray Toolkit, Extended Software for Robotic Off-Line Programming

Abstract

Abstract Thermal Spray Toolkit (TST) is an extended program (Add-in) of RobotStudio which is off-line programming software of ABB Company. The Thermal Spay Toolkit can generate the robot trajectories rapidly, accurately and automatically for most workpieces with a simple and regular form. In recent years, the growing demand for spraying workpiece of various shapes provides a strong motivation to develop new functions to Thermal Spray Toolkit. This paper describes the development of thermal spray toolkit and presents new functions: robotic trajectory auto-generation for complicated surfaces and the optimization of trajectory. Furthermore, many simulations are implemented to optimize trajectory in RobotStudio. Compared to the former thermal spraying without applying this toolkit, the coating quality is improved greatly. These results demonstrate that the new functions are reliable and efficient.