ADACS-an automated system for part finishing

This paper describes an automated finishing system called the advanced deburring and chamfering system (ADACS). ADACS uses the real-time control system (RCS), a hierarchical controller architecture that was developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. ADACS uses a graphical user interface that prompts an operator to specify chamfering edges and cutting parameters for the part. Given the operator-designated chamfering edges, ADACS uses this edge information to extract features-such as inside corner-to generate a finishing process plan. ADACS interprets the finishing plan to generate motion trajectories that are tightly coupled to the tooling control. Because of the inaccuracies in robotic position control, ADACS uses active force control in the tool to compensate for any small position errors along the finishing path. A prototype ADACS has successfully processed aerospace test parts