Multi-objective optimal robot path planning in manufacturing

Automatic CAD-guided optimal tool planning has many applications in surface manufacturing, such as spray painting, spray forming, rapid tooling, cleaning and polishing. A general framework for CAD-guided optimal tool planning is developed to automatically generate optimal trajectories for these tasks. A material distribution model is developed. A multi-objective constraint optimization problem is formulated. An optimal tool trajectory with an optimal time and material quantity deviation is generated. Simulations are performed to verify the generated trajectory. The results show that the developed optimal tool planning algorithm can be applied to generate optimal tool trajectories. This framework can also be extended to other applications.