PROTOTYPE INTEGRATED ROBOTIC PAINTING SYSTEM - SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT

An integrated prototype scheme for robotic painting operations, called an integrated robotic painting system (IRPS), is presented. The IRPS is a unified system in which software and hardware are generically int egrated for robot motion planning and control and which can be viewed as an extended robot controller containing an automatic programming fe ature. Integrated features encompassing part description, automatic tr ajectory planning, and robot motion control, together with a built-in coordinate measuring machine (CMM) feature, distinguish the IRPS from contemporary painting robot systems based on the lead-through method a nd from off-line robot programming systems. This paper describes the a rchitecture and capabilities of the system, including software and har dware.