Robot grinding

    Hello everyone,

    I got a new project to grind and polish large stainless steel pieces with a robot, few different models, and I have no idea where to start with the gear and options I need so I could use your recomendations

    There are three types of pieces, flat circle with a weld that has to be removed, cone with the tip missing and dome. Cone and dome have to be polished on the inside

    I need to go over the whole part with 5 different grits of the wheel, what is a recommended way to do that? Is it possible to just change wheels automatically with robot or should I get also 5 grinders? Recommendations for tool changing systems for that purpose?

    Force has to be regulated, path will be the same for each piece in series, but offset will depend on the wear of the grinding wheel, is just an option for Fanuc enough or should I get some compliance device?

    Ideally each piece would be placed on their table and then moved to the robot for the work, but they need to rotate, so I'd need at least two rotational units, one for the dome and one for the cone. Dome can be on a simple rotational positioner and I can probably change directions between passes, or just move it back, but the cone is a bit trickier since it should sit on wheels and I don't know how to exactly regulate the position.

    Can I just switch the rotators on the go and have each one on it's table that will be wheeled to the cell?

    Any recommendations for vacuums to mount on the robot?

    Sorry for the huge amount of questions but I'm new at this and when I try to search for anything I just get adds from supliers. Thank you for reading

    As far as polishing/grinding wheel wear we shoot a laser across the leading edge of the wheel and computer in the PLC how much to adjust based on that feedback. Adjustment is done with a gearmotor and worm drive typically. Wheel is also mounted on a cushion to allow for part abnormalities with a sensor to determine that cushion has not stuck causing over adjustment.

    Thank you all so much for the answers.

    Quote from mortoch

    As far as polishing/grinding wheel wear we shoot a laser across the leading edge of the wheel and computer in the PLC how much to adjust based on that feedback. Adjustment is done with a gearmotor and worm drive typically. Wheel is also mounted on a cushion to allow for part abnormalities with a sensor to determine that cushion has not stuck causing over adjustment.

    How often do you adjust the edge? Is it more practical than just measuring force?

    Quote from Devendra.r.jain

    i will recommend to use pneumatic float for your grinder as maintaining force. Rest things depends on you requirement of final finish.

    Pneumatic float that I get from google doesn't seem like something I could use for that, it's either a level sensor or a water vehicle, do you have some links or better keywords to find what you're talking about

    Quote from SkyeFire

    PushCorp is a company I've worked with before, that has a variety of robot tools in this category.

    This unit: https://pushcorp.com/product/stc1503-bt30/ has a tool-change that can be automated.

    This unit: https://pushcorp.com/product/afd310/ can be used as a mounting for the spindle unit, and can be commanded to apply a constant force.

    Not cheap, but I've had good luck with their gear in the past.

    I'll compare the mounting with the fanuc option for price and simplicity of use, but the spindle looks exactly like what I need. Only problem might be distance, there are no suppliers in my part of Europe, but probably someone will ship it to me.

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