Using Serial Industrial Robots and CAM Techniques for Manufacturing Prosthetic Devices

Abstract

Serial industrial robots are able to perform point to point movements with a great degree of accuracy and flexibility. Thus, they are mostly used for welding, painting and pick-and-place task. Manufacturing processes require the control of movements on the entire path, so industrial robots are seldom used for this kind of task. The paper presents a research about using industrial robots for manufacturing prosthetic devices. The approach was to build a kinematic model of the robot and to implement it in a commercially available CAM program and to design and manufacture a milling unit as the end-effecter of the robot.