Robotic arms are increasingly gaining ground in the industrial environment. They are a potential replacement for some CNC machines because they have a larger working surface, and their six working axes offer a better access to the work space. The usability of CNC machines and robotic arms can be further improved by incorporating an additional axis. This reduces the production time, improves the dimensional accuracy and the roughness of the treated surface.
This thesis includes the presentation of the steps necessary in integrating the 7th axis (the rotary positioning table) on an anthropomorphic robot arm. The aim of the thesis is to successfully integrate a rotary table, which serves as the 7th axis in the robot cell. The thesis first presents the theoretical framework, followed by an explanation of the steps involved in upgrading the existing robotic arm with an additional axis. This includes the presentation of the communication link between the rotary positioning table ISEL RF1 via the controller IT116G to the control computer of the robot KUKA KR 150-2. For the purpose of this thesis, a special computer program for the rotation of the positioning table was developed in the robot language KRL (Kuka Robot Language). This program was then integrated into the already existing KUKA KRC computer which controls the robotic arm. The control of the rotary positioning table thus becomes the uniform part of the robotic manipulator, which is then controlled by the NC program in the SprutCAM programming environment.
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