Search Results

Industrial robot calibration packages, such as ABB CalibWare, are merely developed only for robot calibration. As a result, the robotic tooling systems designed and fabricated by the user are often calibrated in an ad hoc fashion. In this paper, a systematic approach for robotic tooling calibration is presented in order to overcome this problem. The idea is to include the tooling system as an extended body in the robot kinematic model, from which two error models are established. The first model is associated with the robot, while the second model is associated with the tooling. Once the robot is fully calibrated, the first error will be eliminated. Thus, our method is focused on the second error model. For this calibration, a self-calibration method is developed by using a calibration plate with multiple holes. Then, the tooling calibration model is formulated against the distance between the two holes. For measurements of the distances, a camera is mounted on the tooling system.

Presented in this paper is a framework for the implementation of a robotic percussive riveting system, a new robot application for aircraft assembly. It is shown here that a successful robot application to the automation of a process requires in-depth research of the process and the interaction with the robot. For this purpose, a process planning-driven approach is proposed to guide a robot application research. A typical process planning will involve a list of key considerations including: process sequence, process parameters, process tooling, and process control. Through this list, a number of key research issues are identified for robotic percussive riveting, such as rivet pattern planning, riveting time determination, riveting tooling design and rivet insertion control. The detailed research on these issues has effectively created know-how for the successful implementation of our robotic percussive riveting system.