Automation of the sanding process for wood products

木制品打磨过程的自动化

• 批准号: 530912-2018
• 负责人: Surgenor, Brian
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=666242
• 关键词: Automation; sanding; process; wood; products

This is a proposal for a new collaboration between Queen's University (Prof. Brian Surgenor) and Stinson**Studios (Tamworth, Ontario). The objective is to automate the process of sanding a wooden bowl.**Stinson Studios is a woodworking business dating back to 1982. Their product is wooden bowls cut from tree**trunks and burls. One step in the production process involves the sanding the inner surface of a bowl with a**hand-held orbital sander. This is a physically demanding repetitive motion process. Each staff member is by**necessity limited to working for no more than 2 hours continuously. Over the years, two staff have developed**tendonitis in the elbow and the wrist, and have had to be reassigned. Current staff wear arm and wrist braces to**minimize the onset of tendonitis. Automating this step would provide for a safer and healthier workplace.**Production rates would also increase, possibly as high as a factor of five.**The specific aim of this proposal is to design a controller for a 6-axis serial robot to sand a bowl, and take the**place of the human operator. The process of sanding wood is similar to the polishing of metal, both set out to**eliminate scratches from the surface. There are expensive robot-based commercial systems available for the**polishing of aluminum, a common process in the aerospace industry. Thus, there is literature on the subject of**contour following and the polishing of metal. However, unlike aluminum, wood is a non-homogeneous and**more importantly, the geometry of each bowl is unique. Only one example could be found in the literature on**the subject of contour following and the sanding of wood. It is hypothesized that a hybrid controller with force**and position feedback could be used to: a) generate a tool path (with touch sensor as end effector) and b) sand**the inner bowl surface with generated tool path as guidance (with orbital sander as end effector). Taking a**vision guided robot approach is not feasible, due to the nature of the working environment.

这是女王大学（Brian Surgenor教授）和Stinson**Studios（塔姆沃思，安大略）之间新合作的提案。目标是实现木碗打磨过程的自动化。** Stinson Studios是一家可追溯到1982年的木工企业。他们的产品是从树干和树节上切下来的木碗。生产过程中的一个步骤是用手持式轨道砂光机打磨碗的内表面。这是一个体力要求很高的重复运动过程。每个工作人员连续工作不得超过2小时。多年来，两名员工的手肘和手腕出现了肌腱炎，不得不被重新分配。目前的工作人员戴着手臂和手腕的支架，以尽量减少肌腱炎的发生。自动化这一步骤将提供一个更安全和更健康的工作场所。生产率也将增加，可能高达5倍。该方案的具体目标是设计一个控制器，用于六轴串联机器人打磨碗，并取代人类操作员。打磨木材的过程类似于金属的抛光，都是为了消除表面的划痕。有昂贵的基于机器人的商业系统可用于铝的抛光，这是航空航天工业中的常见工艺。因此，有关于轮廓跟踪和金属抛光的文献。然而，与铝不同，木材是非均匀的，更重要的是，每个碗的几何形状都是独特的。在有关轮廓跟踪和木材打磨的文献中只能找到一个例子。假设具有力 ** 和位置反馈的混合控制器可用于：a）生成工具路径（利用触摸传感器作为末端执行器）和B）利用所生成的工具路径作为引导（利用轨道式砂光机作为末端执行器）砂磨 ** 内碗表面。由于工作环境的性质，采用视觉引导机器人的方法是不可行的。