Feasibility Study and Optimization of the Production of Wood Joints with an Industrial Robot

Abstract

Wood is an important and environmentally friendly construction material.Currently, research in the use of wood as a construction material is increasing to improve the sustainability of buildings.The production of wooden components is currently carried out with special and expensive CNC machines (joinery machines) or by hand by skilled workers.A possible alternative solution is the use of industrial robots.However, there is only a limited amount of research and a lack of data in the field of wood machining with serial robots.In order to obtain further application possibilities and data, this paper investigates the feasibility of producing 33 classic wood joints with an industrial robot.For the feasibility study, simulations were carried out, as well as a total of 103 milling tests using a KUKA KR 16-2 with a spindle system.The feasibility study showed that the manufacturing of 29 classic wood joints with an industrial robot is possible and that tolerances of 1 mm can be obtained.However, there are still numerous optimisation possibilities for the system and the process of wood machining with an industrial robot, which must be further analysed and optimised in future works.