CAD Directed Robotic Deburring

Abstract

Robots prove advantageous for the deburring of machined parts because they are more repeatable than humans and suffer no fatigue. However, most deburring robots are programmed manually, requiring a large investment in programming time. At the National Bureau of Standards' Automated Manufacturing Research Facility, research is being conducted on techniques to automate robot programming. Atechnique has been developed and demonstrated in the Cleaning and Deburring Workstation which uses CAD geometry data to automatically generate robot deburring paths. Using a graphics interface, an operator specifies the edges on a part to be deburred, the deburring tools to be used, and the speeds, feed rates, and contact forces desired. Deburring paths are generated and sent to a PUMA 760 robot controlled by the NBS Real-Time ControlSystem. The robot uses a two-pass technique for deburring. On the first pass, the robot uses force feedback to correct the deburring path points to account for robot kinema...