Influence of process parameters and robot postures on surface quality in robotic machining

The use of industrial robots for machining large parts has attracted more and more attention. Previous studies have shown that ball-end milling is greatly affected by the process parameters. Besides, robotic machining is also affected by various posture-dependent robot performances. However, these two critical aspects are usually treated separately in many works studying robotic machining. In this paper, a robotic machining system consisting of a six-axis industrial robot, a two-axis positioner and a linear track was developed. The combined effects of milling process parameters and robot postures on the machining results were experimentally investigated. Grey relational analysis–based multi-objective optimization was conducted for lower cutting force and better surface quality. A group of process parameters and robot postures were obtained as the optimal combination that generally yields the best milling performance. The results allow users to preliminarily determine the main factors affecting the quality of robotic machining.