Development of automated chopper gun trajectory planning for spray forming

Authors: Chen H.; Xi N.; Masood S.K.; Chen Y.; Dahl J.

Source: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 31, Number 3, 2004 , pp. 297-307(11)

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $38.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Automated chopper gun trajectory planning (CGTP) for spray forming is highly desirable for today's automotive manufacturing. Generating chopper gun trajectories for free-form surfaces to satisfy material distribution requirements is still highly challenging due to the complexity of the problems. In this paper, a user-friendly software for automated CGTP has been developed. The CGTP software can take different formats of the CAD models of parts. A chopper gun trajectory is generated based on the CAD model of a part, chopper gun model, and constraints. A part is partitioned into patches to satisfy the given constraints. A trajectory integration algorithm is developed to integrate the trajectories of the patches to form a trajectory for the part. The CGTP software has been tested by Ford Motor Company and achieved satisfactory results.

Keywords: Spraying; Robotics; Computer Aided Design; Assembly

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01439910410532378

Publication date: 2004-03-01