Automation of the sanding process for wood products

这是女王大学(Brian Surgenor教授)和Stinson**Studios(安大略省塔姆沃斯)之间的一项新合作的建议。目标是自动化打磨木碗的过程。**Stinson Studios是一家可以追溯到1982年的木工企业。他们的产品是用树干和树枝切成的木碗。生产过程中的一个步骤是用手持轨道砂光机打磨碗的内表面。这是一个对身体要求很高的重复运动过程。根据**必要，每位工作人员的连续工作时间不得超过2小时。多年来，两名员工患上了肘部和手腕的肌腱炎，不得不重新分配。目前的工作人员佩戴手臂和手腕支架，以**最大限度地减少肌腱炎的发病。自动化这一步骤将提供一个更安全、更健康的工作场所。**生产率也会提高，可能高达五倍。**这项提议的具体目标是为六轴串联机器人设计一个控制器来沙碗，并取代**人类操作员。打磨木材的过程类似于抛光金属，两者都是为了**消除表面的划痕。有昂贵的基于机器人的商业系统可用于抛光铝，这是航空航天行业的常见工艺。因此，有关于**轮廓跟踪和金属抛光的文献。然而，与铝不同，木头是一种不均匀的材料，**更重要的是，每个碗的几何形状都是独一无二的。只有一个例子可以在**关于轮廓跟踪和木材打磨的文献中找到。假设具有力**和位置反馈的混合控制器可用于：a)生成刀具路径(以触觉传感器为末端执行器)和b)以所生成的刀具轨迹为导向(以轨道砂光机为末端执行器)砂轮内壁表面。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。

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.