End Milling for Articulated Robot Application. 2nd Report. Copy Miling Based on Sensor Feedback Teaching Program.

Abstract

Copy milling of a sculptured surface has been attempted employing an articulated robot with six degrees of freedom. For this purpose, we developed a sensor feedback teaching system as a previous stage for constructing an off-line teaching system. First, the mathematical model which represents the robot used was established, then kinematic equations and their differential relationships were derived. Joint angles of the robot, which realize adaptive configurations for end milling, were calculated using these equations. In this sensor feedback teaching system, a laser displacement sensor is used to detect the distance between the sensor and the tracing object for copy milling, and joint angles of the robot are determined in order to keep the distance constant. In this way, time series joint angles data are calculated automatically, and the teaching program for the robot is developed. The sensor feedback teaching system was examined by tracing a Mickey Mouse mask. The teaching program developed by this system was executed successfully, and a relief of Mickey Mouse was obtained by experimental copy milling.