On the robot based surface finishing of moving unknown parts by means of a new slip and force control concept

Fast and accurate robot based machining, finishing or cleaning of surfaces of geometrically complex manufacturing parts requires the introduction of flexible sensor based automation concepts. The industrial robots currently available on the market can not comply with such advanced requirements. In this paper a new concept for managing such challenging robot tasks is presented. It relies both on a flexible continuous slip and force control algorithm as well as on the use of a new slip sensor which is able to measure relative motion between the robot end-effector and the machined object surface. The smart slip and force control concept is applied to a robotic arm finishing the surface of an unfixed randomly moved object. Both theoretical approach and experimental results of ongoing research are presented in this paper.