Tool Path Planning for manufacturing of Asymmetric parts by incremental sheet metal forming by means of Robotic manipulator

Asymmetric parts have been in a great demand in industries and manufacturing of the same requires affluent dies. Single point incremental forming and two point incremental forming are the two methods which have been introduced to replace partially the use of expensive dies in introduction phases. But one of the major limitations of the existing methods of incremental sheet metal forming is the limiting wall angle, where a wall angle of greater than about 70 degrees is difficult to obtain. The recently proposed solution of multi-stage incremental forming can enable obtaining wall angles close to 90 degrees but it takes longer manufacturing time and may pose problems for materials that severely strain harden. Advance automation and robotics can enhance this task, productivity and accuracy of the part. One of the technologies evolving in manufacturing industry is Robot assisted incremental sheet metal forming. (RISF). 3 axis CNC machine and robotic manipulator can be integrated to make the process more flexible. Forming of any part with a robotic manipulator requires continuous relocation of supporting robots during machining. In this forming operation tool is given 3DOF and manipulator is given 2DOF. Tool head and manipulator sequentially relocate and affix themselves in such a way that final complex geometry can be formed. To follow the work piece geometry, adequate positioning of end effector is required. In this paper evolutionary path planning of robotic manipulator and CNC tool is presented. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.