Automatic robot taping: Auto-path planning and manipulation

Many industrial applications, such as painting, plasma spraying, require people to work long hours to cover the uninvolved part with masking tapes. In this paper, we introduce an automatic robot taping system which can reconstruct the 3D model of the taping part, do path planning and complete the surface covering of the parts using masking tapes automatically. The system uses a Kinect as the 3D scanner to acquire the 3D point clouds of the taping part. Based on the digital 3D points cloud model of the part, we introduces a path planning method to generate the moving path of the systems. A rotary platform and a 6-DOF robot arm collaborate together to execute the robot taping process. For continuous taping, the system and method can handle Tubular shapes. Experiment of taping a cylindroid shape is conducted to validate the system and method. For parts with more complex geometry, further development on the automatic initial tape attaching and cutting mechanism is needed. With such system, the taping work can be much less troublesome. Also, the path planning method applies to applications such as drawing or writing on different surfaces etc. as well.