CAD-guided robot motion planning

Abstract

This paper presents a new method to automate robot motion planning in automotive manufacturing environments. A general framework is developed for CAD-guided robot motion planning. The problem is formulated as a constraint-satisfying problem of tool configurations or, robot hand poses. Two types of robot motion are considered: discrete motion, or point to point motion, and continuous motion. Triangular facets are used to approximate the part surfaces. A pre-partition process decomposes the complex part surfaces into several simple, easy-to-solve patches. For each patch, robot hand poses are determined to satisfy certain task constraints. In this paper, the approach is applied to two applications: vision sensor planning and spray painting gun path planning. It is out belief that more robot planning applications in manufacturing can benefit from this method.