Design of a reconfigurable robot-based system for material deposition applications

Simulation tools need to be developed to support modeling and product/process analysis activities for material deposition processes. The long term research goal is to develop a set of virtual modelling tools to support advanced tool motions and process planning strategies for this application. The goal of this research is to develop a reconfigurable robotic platform that can adapt to variable product size characteristics, and alternative deposition strategies while respecting the unique process-related constraints for 2frac12 axis and 2frac12 axis + 2 axis tool paths. A variety of topologies are investigated. For the selected system, a parametric kinematic, dynamic and control model is developed for configurations of the basic platform. Results for kinematic and dynamic reconfigurations of this base platform are then presented. To simulate the process realistically using existing tools, a methodology is developed to illustrate material deposition in conjunction with the tool motions for a 3 degree of freedom (2 degree of freedom planar robot with a translational axis) configuration.