STEP-NC Architectures for Industrial Robotic Machining: Review, Implementation and Validation

Álvares, Alberto J.; Rodriguez, Efrain E.; Jaimes, Cristhian Ivan Riano; Toquica, Juan S.; Ferreira, João Carlos Espíndola

doi:10.1109/access.2020.3017561

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Compared to computer numerical control (CNC) machining, robotics can provide better accuracy, consistency, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility with their ability to carry out various tasks. In addition, the robotics’ degree of freedom motion allows them to access difficult-to-reach areas and parts [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Aeroplane structures are typically made from titanium and aluminium alloys.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elastomer-Based Visuotactile Sensor for Normality of Robotic Manufacturing Systems

et al. 2022

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Modern aircrafts require the assembly of thousands of components with high accuracy and reliability. The normality of drilled holes is a critical geometrical tolerance that is required to be achieved in order to realize an efficient assembly process. Failure to achieve the required tolerance leads to structures prone to fatigue problems and assembly errors. Elastomer-based tactile sensors have been used to support robots in acquiring useful physical interaction information with the environments. However, current tactile sensors have not yet been developed to support robotic machining in achieving the tight tolerances of aerospace structures. In this paper, a novel elastomer-based tactile sensor was developed for cobot machining. Three commercial silicon-based elastomer materials were characterised using mechanical testing in order to select a material with the best deformability. A Finite element model was developed to simulate the deformation of the tactile sensor upon interacting with surfaces with different normalities. Additive manufacturing was employed to fabricate the tactile sensor mould, which was chemically etched to improve the surface quality. The tactile sensor was obtained by directly casting and curing the optimum elastomer material onto the additively manufactured mould. A machine learning approach was used to train the simulated and experimental data obtained from the sensor. The capability of the developed vision tactile sensor was evaluated using real-world experiments with various inclination angles, and achieved a mean perpendicularity tolerance of 0.34°. The developed sensor opens a new perspective on low-cost precision cobot machining.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elastomer-Based Visuotactile Sensor for Normality of Robotic Manufacturing Systems

et al. 2022

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“…Slakovic et al used Robot Language Converter (RLC) to extract cutter location trajectory from STEP-NC file and transfer it into robot programming language [28]. Alvares et al discussed and implemented six architectures for applying STEP-NC in robot machining [29]. The key issue is to handle the information in STEP-NC file and then to simulate or machine on robot platform.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Architecture, Methodology and Implementation of STEP-NC Compliant Closed-Loop Robot Machining System

Guo

et al. 2022

IEEE Access

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Industrial robots are gradually being employed in machining processes, particularly the cutting process, owing to their flexibility, mobility, and economic efficiency. However, it is difficult to make the manufacturing process intelligent owing to the complexity of robot machining process information handling and programming. In this paper, the architecture of a STEP-NC compliant closed-loop robot machining system was designed, including its function model and information stream. A methodology based on STEP-NC was established to enable the analysis of high-level information directly and automatically generating robot program according to the actual machining conditions. The STEP-NC Application Activity Model (AAM) and Application Reference Model (ARM) of closed-loop robot machining system is built to integrate the machining process data, monitoring and inspection data, mechanical equipment data, machining status data and inspection result data within a unified data flow, making it possible to realize intelligent manufacturing and adaptively adjusting the robot machining process. The proposed closed-loop robot machining system was implemented based on an open STEP-NC interpreter that interprets the high level information in STEP-NC directly to reduce machining robot programming time. An industrial camera was integrated with the robot for rawpiece positioning, then the STEP-NC interpreter can generate robot path rapidly according to the parameters of manufacturing features and position of rawpiece. The STEP-NC interpreter can generate a robot control program or communicate with a software controller using an application program interface, so it can be integrated with both existing industrial robot controllers and future open robot controllers. Finally, case studies are conducted for the functional verification of the proposed STEP-NC compliant closed-loop robot machining system.

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“…To date, there have been few 100% STEP-NC implementations, i.e., type 2, and they have all been laboratory prototypes, as described in [15,16]. That is why STEP-NC technology is being used as a CAM-to-CAM mechanism, while in the case of CAM-CNC, the vast majority are based on interpreting and post-processing the file to other already developed formats, such as G-code or other robot programming languages [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

STEP-NC-Compliant Implementation to Support Mixed-Control Technologies Applied to Stone-Processing Machines Based on Industrial Automation Standards

2021

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STEP-NC (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data–Numerical Control) for metal milling and turning is not implemented by industrial computer numerical controllers. Solutions reported are prototypes based on post-processing in G-code. Moreover, minority machining processes, such as stone cutting, have not yet been contemplated in the STEP-NC standard. This article takes that sector as a use case. An extended STEP-NC model for circular saw stone-cutting operations is proposed, and a prototype automation implementation is developed to work with this extended model. This article shows how modern technological resources for coordinated axes control provided by many industrial controllers for the automation of general-purpose machines can speed up the processes of implementing STEP-NC numerical controllers. This article proposes a mixed and flexible approach for STEP-NC-based machine automation, where different strategies can coexist when it comes to executing STEP-NC machining files, so controllers do not need to implement the standard in an exhaustive way for all the possible features, but only at selected ones when convenient. This is demonstrated in a prototype implementation which is able to process STEP-NC product files with mixed-feature types: standard milling and non-standard sawblade features for stone processing.

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STEP-NC Architectures for Industrial Robotic Machining: Review, Implementation and Validation

Cited by 7 publications

References 48 publications

Elastomer-Based Visuotactile Sensor for Normality of Robotic Manufacturing Systems

Elastomer-Based Visuotactile Sensor for Normality of Robotic Manufacturing Systems

The Architecture, Methodology and Implementation of STEP-NC Compliant Closed-Loop Robot Machining System

STEP-NC-Compliant Implementation to Support Mixed-Control Technologies Applied to Stone-Processing Machines Based on Industrial Automation Standards

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