A CAD/CAM system for designing robotic painting line

도장공정의 로보틱자동화를 위한 설계 지원 CAD/CAM 시스템

For successful implementation of robotic painting system, a structured design and analysis procedure is necessary. In designing robotic system, both functional and economical feasibility should be investigated. As the robotization is complicated task involving implementation details(such as robot selection, accessory design, and spatial layout) together with operation details, a computerized method should be sought. However, any conventional robotic design system and off-line programming system cannot accomodate such a need. In this research, we develop an interactive design support system for robotization of a cycle painting line. With the developed system called SPRPL(Simulation Package for Robotic Painting Line) users can design the painting objects(via FRAME module), select robot model (ROBOT), design the part hanger (FEEDER), and arrange the workcell. After motion programming (MOTION), the design is evaluated in terms of: a) workspace analysis, b) coating thickness analysis, and c) cycle time (ANALYSIS). By iterative design and evaluation procedure, a feasible and efficient robotic design can be attained. As the developed system has motion planning and analysis features, it can be also used as an off-line robot programming system in operation stage. Including the details of each module, this paper also presents a case study made for an actual painting line.