Development of a dual-robot system for prototype production

A dual-robot machining system has been developed for manufacturing complex objects. The system consists of two six-axis industrial robots with flexible tool changers, a CAD/CAM package for geometric design and toolpath generation, a robot simulation package for collision avoidance, and a vision system for robot calibration. It offers the flexibility to reconfigure the robots of the system to accommodate workpieces of different shapes and sizes. A prototype of the system has been successfully developed and tested, and shows satisfactory performance in machining quality and control over the configurations of the robots. Examples are given of the application of the system to machining objects with spherical and sculptured surfaces. The system has been shown to be flexible, reconfigurable, automatic, and capable of manufacturing complex prototypes in the current industry environment.