Design and Control of Industrial Robots

Dear Colleagues,

Industrial robots are used increasingly often for applications which require continuous path control, such as cutting operations (milling sculptural surfaces), deburring complex parts processed by means of other operations (metal forming) or similar applications within other fields. However, the rigidity of the robotic structure is not designed for the technological forces and torques which can appear during these operations, mainly when robotic machining is considered. Consequently, the accuracies which can be achieved by using robots for such operations are still significantly smaller than those obtained on dedicated equipment (for example CNC machine tools). On the other hand, industrial robots are rarely equipped from the design or even delivery phase with neither end-effectors specifically designed for operations requiring continuous path control nor with other auxiliary units for the same tasks; thus, such equipment has to be designed and implemented by the end-user. This Special Issue aims to explore what solutions are currently being studied to overcome this situation. Papers on one or more of the following topics are especially expected:

- Simulation of robotic operations requiring continuous path control taking into consideration both kinematics and dynamics of the robotic structure;

- Robotic machining and other robotic applications requiring continuous path control;

- Design of working units and end-effectors for robotic operations requiring continuous path control;

- Design and implementation of auxiliary units for robotic cells;

- Strategies for reducing forces and torques during robotic operations requiring continuous path control;

- Optimal placement of the processed object (workpiece, part or others) in the robot workspace to reduce energy consumption during the process;

- Control strategies to improve the accuracies of the parts processed by robotic machining;

- New sensor systems to measure forces and torques within the robotic processes requiring continuous path control.

Prof. Dr. Sever-Gabriel Racz
Guest Editor

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