Deburring Using Robot Manipulators: A Review

Deburring of cast parts can be a very challenging task. Today, large burrs on large casting are mostly removed manually. Workers are exposed to hazardous working conditions through, among other things, high noise and vibration levels. Special purpose CNC-machines are available for deburring tasks, but they have a high investment cost that makes them unfit for high-mix low-volume processes. Deburring with robot manipulators are seen as a suitable and less expensive alternative, and have been in the focus of research topic for the last 50 years. Unfortunately, it has failed to move from research into industrial applications. One reason is the long system setup time that makes the cost of automatic deburring too high. This paper deals with the status and usage of robot manipulators in deburring applications with a focus on solutions for cast parts. The deburring pipeline and its components are investigated. There is a special focus on the solutions that lead to a more flexible and automatic deburring system by using sensors such as laser, vision and force control. The solutions are evaluated with regards to the current challenges with robotic deburring and what needs to be improved for robotic deburring to become available for high-mix low-volume processes.