Development of an automatic polishing system for metal molds and dies (1st report, Automation of polishing operation based on CAD/CAM data).

Abstract

This paper deals with the automation of polishing metal molds and dies including curved surfaces. The polishing process of them requires much labor due to their complicated shape and high accuracy. To rationalize the polishing process, it is intended to introduce an industrial robot and control it based on CAD/CAM data. A newly developed end-effector is mounted to the robot arm and is moved along the workpiece surface, keeping the direction of the end-effector normal to it. The movement path of the end-effector is generated on the basis of the CAD/CAM system (P-CAPS) running on a 16-bit personal computer. A number of experiments are conducted, changing kinds and grain sizes of abrasives to seek for optimal polishing condition by the end-effector. As a result, it is found that the polishing system by the robot has potential of rationalizing of polishing process of metal molds and dies.