Spatial Path Planning for Robotic Milling of Automotive Casting Components Based on Optimal Machining Posture

Abstract

The robotic milling of automotive casting components can effectively reduce human participation in the production process and enhance production efficiency and quality, but the premise addresses the reasonable planning of machining paths. To address major challenges, this paper proposes a spatial path planning method for the robotic milling of casting flash and burrs on an automotive engine flywheel shell based on the optimal machining posture. Firstly, an improved stereolithography slicing algorithm in arbitrary tangent plane direction is put forward, which solves the problem that the existing stereolithography slicing algorithm cannot accurately extract the contour of complex components. Secondly, the contour path curve fitting of the slicing points of the flywheel shell is realized based on the B-spline curve. Next, a machining posture evaluation function is established based on the robot’s stiffness performance, and the optimal machining posture is solved and verified with simulation according to the machining posture evaluation function and posture interpolation. Finally, the experiments indicate that the proposed method can significantly enhance the machining quality, with an average allowance height of 0.33 mm, and reduce the machining time to 9 min, compared with the conventional manual operation, both of which satisfy the machining requirements.