Polishing robot for pet bottle blow molds

In this chapter, a CAD/CAM-based position/force controller in Cartesian space is presented for a mold polishing robot. CL data with normal vectors are referred to as not only the desired trajectory of tool translational motion but also the desired contact direction given to a mold surface, so that a complete non-taught operation of both position and contact direction can be realized. The controller also regulates the polishing force consisting of the contact force and kinetic friction forces. When the robot carries out polishing tasks, the position control loop delicately contributes to the force control loop to achieve both a regular pick feed control along CL data and a stable polishing force control on curved surface. The effectiveness and promise of the polishing robot is proved by actual polishing experiments using an industrial robot YASKAWA MOTOMAN UP6.