Robot Programming in Machining Operations

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter a conceptual methodology for robot programming in lighter subtractive machining operations have been presented, seeking to give the reader an overview of the challenges and possible solutions for effective communication between the human and the robot system. Some key-modules have been elaborated, in order to let the readers in on more technical details necessary when developing their own systems. Some important features of the proposed methodology are: ? User communication is human friendly and rapid ? Information of the real work-piece is combined with the ideal CAD-model ? Lines, regions ,dots and messages can be drawn directly onto the work-piece ? Uses only one camera ? Semi ?automatic robot path generation The authors have carried out some initial laboratory tests with the various modules around the proposed methodology (Solvang et al., 2008 a), (Solvang et al., 2007) and (Sziebig, 2007). These results are very promising, first of all operator communication is improved and the operator is presented only those tasks he can master intuitively. When it comes to accuracy measurements results shows that the selection of camera is important. A high resolution camera (2856*2142) produced twice as good results as a low resolution web camera (640*480). To measure the complete error chain, a set of experiments was carried out with an ABB irb 2000 robot. For these tests the low resolution web camera were used to capture a hand drawn line on a sculptured surface After the image processing the robot was instructed to follow the generated path.. The deviation between the hand drawn and the robot drawn answer was approximate 1 mm, the same accuracy as for the web camera.