Automatic generation of robot targets : A first step towards a flexible robotic solution for cutting customized mesh tray

Abstract: The increased demands for customization in manufacturing industries require new automation methods. This thesis presents the development of such a method for a cutting procedure of customized mesh trays at WIBE Group. The work aimed to automatically generate robot targets from data extracted from Autodesk AutoCAD and demonstrate the concept in ABB RobotStudio. A literature review was conducted to find an appropriate method for data extraction and conversion into robot targets. This resulted in an approach where data for the cut positions was collected by scripts created with AutoCAD’s inbuilt programming language AutoLISP. The data was then exported to a text file that could be read by the robot in the RobotStudio simulation model. By offsetting a pre-set robot target with the imported data, new robot targets for each cut were created. The developed method was tested for different types of mesh trays and cut positions. The conclusion is that the method is fully working and that the concept is user-friendly, but some improvements are needed before the concept is ready to be put into operation. For example, further measures are needed to ensure that the correct data is collected from AutoCAD and that the concept gets easier to troubleshoot. Furthermore, development work is also needed for aspects outside the purpose of this thesis, such as the robot cell layout and design of the robot tool.