Intelligent robotic system for automated shot peening and peen forming

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Shot peen forming (or SPF) and Shot peening (or SP) and are extensively applied in aerospace and transportation engineering to, respectively, form curved shapes from sheet metal (which would be difficult to form with traditional methods like stamping) and improve mechanical properties of the surfaces. Despite a wide range of their applications, many SPF and SP processes are currently executed mostly manually or in an open-loop fashion by qualified operators. The reach, repeatability, accuracy, and response time of the processes are then obviously limited by those of the operator. A robotic system seems to offer an attractive substitute addressing the aforementioned issues. However, the application of robots in such applications is hindered by the process uncertainties which limit the accuracy, repeatability, and response time of automated solutions. For instance, several trials to reach the desired forming are common to many SPF processes. Two main sources of uncertainty, tackled in this project, include the nozzle's motion (position and velocity) and peening coverage.