Off-line nominal path generation of 6-DoF robotic manipulator for edge finishing and inspection processes

This paper deals with the development of a Computer-Aided Robotic Machining Process Planning package based on SolidWorks. The main aim of the package is to generate an efficient, collision-free, nominal tool path needed for edge finishing and inspection by utilizing a 6-DoF robotic arm. The overall nominal tool path involves analyzing the geometry of the workpiece, determining and designing an efficient collision-free tool path and finally generating the tool path data for the robot and verifying it. This package significantly simplifies the complexity of planning an efficient path for performing edge finishing and inspection. ABB IRB2000 robot is chosen for executing the generated tool path. Ultimately, such path is to be utilized as the nominal tool path by any control strategy present in the literature for a complete automatic edge finishing process.