Robotic Machining from Programming to Process Control

Abstract

This chapter has addressed the critical issues in robotic machining process from programming to process control. Three major contributions, including rapid robot programming, controlled material removal rate, and online deformation compensation have been introduced in detail. The complete solution is achieved with force control strategy based on ABB IRC5 robot controller. Rapid robot programming is characterized by two main modules: lead-through and automatic path-learning. Lead-through gives robot operator the freedom to adjust the spatial relationship between the robot tool fixture and the workpiece easily, while robot automatically follow the workpiece contour, record the targets and generate the process program in path-learning. Since the robot programming is generated at actual process setup, no additional calibration is required. Online deformation compensation is realized based on a robot structure model. Since force induced deformation is the major source of inaccuracy in robotic machining process, the surface quality is improved greatly adopting the proposed method. This function is especially important in milling applications, where cutting force could be as large as 1000 N.