ROS Industrial recently shared an article on their website about the robotic blending project.
Starting in earnest at the beginning of 2017, Milestone 4 (M4) sought to further the functionality of the technology to incorporate functionality that was of interest to the participating members. These members, 3M, Caterpillar, GKN Aerospace, Wolf Robotics, and the SwRI development team set forth to realize a set of objectives:
- Closed-loop inspection and retouch: Integrating the process planning and quality assurance steps so that parts are finished with a closed, sensor-driven loop.
- More Robust Surface Segmentation: Improving the surface segmentation and planning algorithms to accommodate more complex surfaces found on real parts.
- Blending Process Refinement: Improving the quality of the blending process to produce surface finishes that meet engineering requirements.
- Edge Processing: Processing/chamfering simple 2.5D edges that occur where two surfaces meet.
- Technology Transfer: Meetings, demonstrations, and sponsor sites to support knowledge sharing among project participants and performers.
- Integration and Testing: Demonstration support.
You can check out the complete article here.