A Study Of Loading/Unloading Technology On Large Robotic Automatic Press Lines

Large robotic press line is one of the two major trends for the automatizationtechnology of large press equipment as well as the chief form of press equipment forautobody at present. With the obvious gap on the loading/unloading technology of largerobots between present level in China and the advanced level in the world taken intoconsideration, it is of great importance to conduct researches in this respect.This paper is a part of the key special project “Research on the AutomaticLoading/Unloading Technology of Press Lines in the Large Servo Press”. Undertaken bythe research group of Yanshan University, this project researched into the coordinationmethods of the robot and the press line, with the loading/unloading technology of largerobotic press lines as the research object. Movement schemes for the large robotic pressline related to the special project have been worked out, based on which the motionsimulation was carried out. A noumenal design has been conducted on a loading/unloadingrobot addressing to the actual working condition of the product line. The trajectory of theloading/unloading robot was planned and simulated as well. A more detailed description ofthe research is presented as follows.First the author conducted a research on the present coordination methods betweenthe robot the press and proposed the method of “the equal division of time&the matchingof movements”, with the basic principles stated and application process illustrated.Then the author explored the characteristics of the large robotic press line. With themotion performance and shortest distance as assessment factors, movement schemes andassessment indicators oriented to large robotic press lines are put forward, with itscalculation process demonstrated.In the next part, the author built a simplified3-D model for the large robotic press line,worked out a trajectory plan for the robot in the press line, and designed movementschemes adopting the method of “the equal division of time&the matching ofmovements.” Those movement schemes were evaluated by the assessment indicatorsindividually. According to the results, the optimal schemes were picked out, and under those schemes, motion simulations were carried out on the press line based on ADAMSrespectively.After that, based on the actual working conditions, the author designed configurationschemes for loading/unloading robot, set the parameter of the key bar length, conductedkinematic and static analysis, and selected models for the drive unit.In the end of the paper, the author planned the trajectory for the loading/unloadingrobot and conducted trajectory simulation in ADAMS using quintic interpolation andAkima spline interpolation, from which the motion curves at each joint of the robot weredrawn.