Technology Evaluation of Autonomous Robotic Systems for Industrial Floor Grinding Applications

Antex Western是一家100%加拿大所有的公司，是商业建筑产品，装修和建筑的领导者，包括软地板（地毯，底衬和其他软表面），硬表面（石材，瓷砖，水磨石，reazzo，抛光混凝土和混凝土修复）和其他建筑专业。Antex为多个行业的客户和业主提供服务，如教育机构、体育场馆、博物馆、机场、医院和其他办公大楼。该公司目前正在建设一个专门的抛光混凝土地板结构，嵌入装饰骨料，如特定的石头和玻璃。安装抛光地板的过程包括浇注配制的混凝土-骨料混合物和逐步研磨和抛光操作，以实现所需的细节和精整。* 抛光混凝土地板的安装需要使用便携式手持式研磨机对浇铸地板的周边（所有地板边缘/角落）进行研磨和抛光，这是一项费力、昂贵且过度依赖操作员的活动。边缘/拐角打磨是最关键的活动之一，因为它决定了地板的水平度，并为整个地板结构的打磨提供了起点。尽管大型和半自动化设备可用于研磨混凝土地板系统的主体，但是地板边缘/拐角的研磨仍然是手动和劳动密集型活动。目前，Antex还没有找到现成的或现有的定制地板磨削解决方案来解决这些挑战。因此，Antex正在与红河学院（RRC）的航空航天和制造技术访问中心（TACAM）合作，设计、集成和实施机器人地板边缘/拐角研磨解决方案。本项目将开发一个用于工业地板磨削应用的原型自主机器人系统。 协作机器人、传感器、视觉系统、表面仿形系统和末端执行器将与当前的工业地板磨削/抛光工艺集成，特别是用于边缘/拐角磨削应用。 原型系统的自主性将通过将协作机器人与现有的自主工厂车辆集成来实现，具有机器导航系统和对象检测功能。集成系统将配备特定的传感器，并实时检测地板的质量。 该器械将由内置可充电电池供电，并将在设计中纳入安全功能，以防止安全危害。自动化将提高工具精度和准确性、产品质量、安全性和生产率。 该项目预计将为Antex Western和加拿大带来巨大的经济和工业利益，减少人类接触噪音和灰尘，提高可重复性和提高产品质量，提高生产率，并推动机器人技术的极限。开发的自主机器人地面研磨解决方案将是建筑行业独有的，具有扩展和适应其他类似应用的能力。RRC将利用学院在机器人和自动化方面的现有资产和能力，以及机器人编程（包括机器人操作系统- ROS）和组件制造方面的专业知识来交付该项目。此外，RRC和Antex将与第三方机械系统设计师和设备制造商合作，设计和开发适当的工具和仪器。**

Antex Western, a 100 percent Canadian owned company, is a leader in commercial building products, renovations and construction, including soft flooring (carpet, underlays and other soft surfaces), hard surfaces (stone, tile, terrazzo, reazzo, polished concrete and concrete remediation) and other construction specialties. Antex serves clients and owners across several industries such as educational institutions, sports complexes, museums, airports, hospitals and other office complexes. The company is currently building a specialized polished concrete floor structure, with embedded decorative aggregates such as specific stones and glasses. The process of installing the polished floor includes casting of the formulated concrete-aggregate mixture and step-by-step grinding and polishing operations to achieve desired details and finishing. ****Installation of the polished concrete floor requires using portable hand-held grinders in grinding and polishing the perimeter of the cast floor (all floor edges/corners), which is a laborious, expensive and excessively operator-dependent activity. The edge/corner grinding is one of the most critical activities in that it determines the levelness of the floor and provides the starting point for the grinding of the entire floor structure. Although, large and semi-automated equipment are available for grinding the bulk of the concrete floor system, grinding of the floor edges/corners remain a manual and labor-intensive activity. At present, Antex has not found an off-the-shelf or an existing custom floor grinding solution for addressing these challenges. Therefore, Antex is partnering with the Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM) at Red River College (RRC), to design, integrate and implement a robotic floor edge/corner grinding solution.****A prototype autonomous robotic system for industrial floor grinding applications will be developed in this project. Collaborative robots, sensors, vision systems, surface profiling systems and end-effectors will be integrated with the current industrial floor grinding/polishing processes, specifically for the edge/corner grinding application. Autonomy of the prototype system will be achieved by integrating the collaborative robot with an existing autonomous factory vehicle, with machine navigation systems and object detection capabilities. The integrated system will be equipped with specific sensors and real-time inspection of the quality of the floor. The device will be powered by an in-built rechargeable battery and will incorporate safety features on the design to prevent safety hazards. Improvement on the tool precision and accuracy, product quality, safety and productivity will be achieved with automation. This project is anticipated to have a huge economic and industrial benefit to Antex Western and Canada by reducing human exposure to noise and dust, enhancing repeatability and improving product quality, increasing productivity, and pushing the limits of robotic technologies. The developed autonomous robotic floor grinding solution will be unique to the construction industry, with the capability to scale and adapt to other similar applications.****RRC will capitalize on the College's existing assets and capabilities in robotics and automation, and expertise in robotic programing (including Robot Operating System - ROS) and components fabrication to deliver this project. In addition, RRC and Antex will work with third party mechanical systems designers and equipment manufacturers to design and develop appropriate tools and instruments. **