Industrial robots are increasingly being used for robotic machining tasks. Machining specifically involves material removal processes to shape or finish a workpiece. Examples of machining operations are:
- Milling
- Drilling
- Cutting (such as laser, waterjet, plasma)
- Grinding
Closely related are joining processes, where materials are bonded together rather than shaped by subtraction. Examples of such processes are:
- Gluing
- Welding
- 3D printing
When considering to use a CNC-machine or an industrial robot for tasks like these, there are many parameters to consider. Some parameters become more important than others, depending on the application. Below we will go through these considerations, one by one, with links to individual blog posts for easier reading.
- Accuracy of the machine / robot
- Backlash in the joints or linear actuators
- The rigidity / stiffness of the machine / robot
- The available workspace of the machine / robot
- The number of degrees of freedom (3, 4, 5 or additional axes)
- The footprint area (floor space)
- Temperature sensitivity
- The materials to be machined (soft, medium or hard)
- Auxiliary functions, such as tool change, chip removal and coolant circulation
- The programming complexity of the machine / robot
- The availability of calibration services, spare parts and service
- The cost of the machine / robot