Mobile-robotic machining for large complex components: A review study

Even though the robotic machining has achieved great success in machining of small components, it lacks the competence to machine large complex components, such as wind turbine blade, train carriage, and aircraft wing. In order to cope with this issue, the mobile machining robot system, which consists of a robot arm integrated with a mobile platform, is proposed to achieve the large workspace and high dexterity, and thus has the potential to machine the large complex components. However, due to the limitation of motion accuracy and structural stiffness, the current mobile-robots are hard to satisfy the high precision requirement of machining tasks. In this paper, some historical mobile-robotic machining systems are reviewed firstly, followed by some key techniques related to structure optimization, dynamics of the machining process, localization, and control techniques, which are fundamental for the structural stiffness and motion accuracy of mobile-robots. Finally, the prospect of mobile-robotic machining and the open questions are addressed.