Spraying operations in the industrial sector that need integrated robotic path planning for complex geometry

– A number of significant challenges are presently standing in the way of the widespread use of automated robotic solutions to complicated activities. In high-mix/low-volume operations, for example, there is often too much uncertainty to successfully hard-code a robotic work cell due to ineffective sensing and job unpredictability. The majority of existing collaborative frameworks are devoted on including the necessary senses for physical collaboration. Mixing human cognitive function and fine motor abilities with robotic strength and repeatability has been a successful model for reducing uncertainty. However, there are numerous situations when physical engagement is not feasible but human reasoning and task understanding are still required. Important components of the suggested framework are a route planner, a route simulator, and a result simulator. The operator can communicate with these modules using an integrated user interface, making edits to the path plan before automatically authorising the task for execution by a manipulator that doesn’t need to be collaborative. In a remanufacturing setting where each component needs one-off route planning, the collaborative framework is demonstrated for a pressure washing job. Other processes that may be included into the framework include shot peening, deburring, grinding, sandblasting, and spray painting. In such settings, surface preparation and coating might be automated using automated route planning for industrial spraying operations. Most real-world components do not conform to the assumptions made by autonomous spray route planners in the literature, which have focused on continuous and convex surfaces. Concave and discontinuous surfaces, such as sharp corners, holes, protrusions, and other surface anomalies, must be systematically handled by planners while paths are being constructed. The route planner creates paths by means of a slicing-based algorithm. By comparing the actual part geometry with the convex hull path, it finds if surface irregularities and concavities should be taken into account in the path plan and, if so, how significant they are. At certain locations along the route, the movement speed or offset distance can be adjusted to suit the needs of the way. The construction of the route planner also takes into account the trade-offs involved with path adaptation and the relative effectiveness of different adaptive methods.