面向汽车覆盖件模具快速开发的金属喷涂机器人研究

Novel Metal Arc Spraying Robot for Rapid Tooling of Large-Sized Automobile Body Panel Dies

提出了一种新型的机器人手腕机构和基于STL(Stereolithography)模型分层数据的运动控制技术,在此基础上,研制了基于金属电弧喷涂和电刷镀技术的快速制模工业机器人.该机器人为5自由度直角坐标型结构,手腕采用了通过特别设计的一个连杆机构,当利用该手腕机构调节电弧喷枪的姿态时,喷枪工作点的空间位置会保持不变,因此解决了在传统机器人中姿态调节机构与位置机构存在的非线性运动耦合的问题.机器人以模具STL模型的分层数据作为控制系统的输入,无需人工编程即可自动完成金属电弧喷涂和电刷镀模具制造工艺.在汽车新车型开发和样车试制中,应用该机器人制作覆盖件模具,可以显著降低开发成本,缩短试制周期.

A creative robot wrist consisting of link mechanisms and a novel robot motion control method based on cross-sectional vector contours of STL-formatted model was proposed. By using the wrist and the control method, an industrial robot of five degrees of freedom for rapid tooling by using metal arc spraying and electric brush plating techniques was developed. The wrist of the robot including a special designed link mechanism can maintain the position of the spraying point on the surface of the master pattern whatever alternating the orientation of the gun. Therefore the kinematic nonlinear coupling between the position mechanism and orientation mechanism of traditional robot can be avoided. The only input of the control system is the STL-formatted 3D CAD model of the pattern. Without any manual programming, the metal arc spraying and brush plating (if necessary) processes can be performed automatically and efficiently after receiving the 3D CAD data of the pattern. Using this robot system in new car development and trial production, the cost and lead-time can be reduced substantially as compared with the conventional tool making method.