Trajectory planning for automated robotic deburring on an unknown contour

For a conventionally automated robotic deburring system, a precise model of the mechanism and geometric knowledge of the environment is necessary. Als o, the accuracy of the planned trajectory must be high. The trajectory whic h the robot travels is usually planned with a small depth inside from the c onstrained surface of the environment. For a workpiece with unknown contour , planning a trajectory may be unfeasible. Therefore, in this study, we pre sent a novel trajectory planning, which allows for arbitrary planning of tr ajectory with a large distance inside the constrained surface. When the man ipulator comes into contact with the environment, the robot controller comp ensates for the trajectory in real time by applying an innovative geometric al projection method. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of t he proposed method, a Cartesian robot arm on which a grinding tool is rigid ly mounted performs precision deburring and chamfering on unknown contours. Experimental results indicate that the manipulator is controlled in terms of automatically deburring the edges of parts with an unknown geometrical c onfiguration. Moreover, its cutting force is maintained at a desired level. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.