AI-Powered Smart Robotic Cells for Autonomous Surface Finishing

Manufacturing companies are facing a shortage of qualified workers, so they need automation technologies to speed up production and achieve consistent quality. Surface finishing, which is a large part of manufacturing operations, is traditionally done manually through sanding and polishing and is ergonomically challenging. While robots are used in mass-production applications, they have not been used in high-mix applications because manual programming is not economically viable. However, recent advances in AI and affordable sensing are enabling robots to be used in high-mix applications, which eliminates the need for humans to perform challenging tasks and amplifies human productivity. This presentation will discuss how physics-informed AI can enable smart robotic cells that program themselves and utilize sensor data to adapt to deliver efficient and safe operational performance in high-mix sanding and polishing applications. Data collected by robots during the operations can be used to build an accurate digital twin of the as-manufactured part, which can be used to enable the automation of downstream processes. Autonomous surface finishing solutions can increase productivity, improve process consistency, eliminate waste, reduce ergonomically challenging work, compress cycle times, and expand capacity.