A Calibration Method for the Integrated Design of Finishing Robotic Workcells in the Aerospace Industry

Industrial robotics provides high flexibility and reconfigurability, cost effectiveness and user friendly programming for many applications but still lacks in accuracy. An effective workcell calibration reduces the errors in robotic manufacturing and contributes to extend the use of industrial robots to perform high quality finishing of complex parts in the aerospace industry. A novel workcell calibration method is embedded in an integrated design framework for an in-depth exploitation of CAD-based simulation and offline programming. The method is composed of two steps: a first offline calibration of the workpiece-independent elements in the workcell layout and a final automated online calibration of workpiece-dependent elements. The method is finally applied to a robotic workcell for finishing aluminum housings of aerospace gear transmissions, characterized by complex and non-repetitive shapes, and by severe dimensional and geometrical accuracy demands. Experimental results demonstrate enhanced performances of the robotic workcell and improved final quality of the housings.

[1]  Tien-Fu Lu,et al.  An on-line relative position and orientation error calibration methodology for workcell robot operations , 1997 .

[2]  Zvi S. Roth,et al.  Fundamentals of Manipulator Calibration , 1991 .

[3]  Hui Zhang,et al.  Chatter analysis of robotic machining process , 2006 .

[4]  Sung-Rak Kim,et al.  A practical approach to enhance positioning accuracy for industrial robots , 2009, 2009 ICCAS-SICE.

[5]  Helmut Bley,et al.  Process-based assembly planning using a simulation system with cell calibration , 2001, Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Task Planning (ISATP2001). Assembly and Disassembly in the Twenty-first Century. (Cat. No.01TH8560).

[6]  C. S. Psomopoulos,et al.  Statistical Treatment of Insulation Failure Data With The Application of Simplified Regression Method in The High-Voltage Laboratory , 2002 .

[7]  Kevin L. Conrad,et al.  On the Accuracy, Repeatability, and Degree of Influence of Kinematics Parameters for Industrial Robots , 2002 .

[8]  S.Y.T. Lang,et al.  General modular robot architecture and configuration design , 2005, IEEE International Conference Mechatronics and Automation, 2005.

[9]  Biao Zhang,et al.  Toward general industrial robot cell calibration , 2011, 2011 IEEE 5th International Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics (RAM).

[10]  F. Ribeiro,et al.  A low cost cell calibration technique and its PC based control software , 1997, ISIE '97 Proceeding of the IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics.

[11]  Phil Webb,et al.  Robotic edge profiling of complex components , 2011, Ind. Robot.

[12]  John Norrish,et al.  Recent Progress on Programming Methods for Industrial Robots , 2010, ISR/ROBOTIK.

[13]  Santiago Garrido,et al.  Accuracy and Calibration Issues of Industrial Manipulators , 2006 .

[14]  Hui Zhang,et al.  Robotic machining from programming to process control: a complete solution by force control , 2008, Ind. Robot.

[15]  Marcello Pellicciari,et al.  Engineering method for adaptive manufacturing systems design , 2009 .

[16]  Luo Fei,et al.  An Overview of Robot Calibration , 2004 .

[17]  Hoda A. ElMaraghy,et al.  Flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing systems paradigms , 2005 .

[18]  Guilin Yang,et al.  A geometrical approach for online error compensation of industrial manipulators , 2010, 2010 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics.

[19]  Low Kin Huat.  Industrial Robotics: Programming, Simulation and Applications , 2006 .

[20]  Marcello Pellicciari,et al.  Hybrid Reconfigurable System design and optimization through virtual prototyping and digital manufacturing tools , 2012 .

[21]  F.S. Cheng.  The Method of Recovering Robot TCP Positions in Industrial Robot Application Programs , 2007, 2007 International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation.

[22]  Marcello Pellicciari,et al.  Enhancing changeability of automotive Hybrid Reconfigurable Systems in digital environments , 2012 .