Modeling and control of automated polishing/deburring process using a dual-purpose compliant toolhead

In this paper, a new approach is presented for modeling and control of an automated polishing/deburring process that utilizes a dual-purpose compliant toolhead. This toolhead has a pneumatic spindle that can be extended and retracted by three pneumatic actuators to provide tool compliance. By integrating a pressure sensor and a linear encoder, this toolhead can be used for polishing and deburring. For the polishing control, the tool pressure is pre-planned based on the given part geometry, and a PID controller is applied for pressure tracking though pressure sensing. For the deburring control, another PID controller is applied to regulate the tool length through tool extension sensing. The two control methods have been tested and implemented on a polishing/deburring robot, and the experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented methods.