Any hobbyists using milling robots?

[strantor]

This is probably a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway...

Robots can mill steel apparently, as per this video:

And now that we have a mature robo-manufacturing industry, you can find used/refurbished industrial robotic systems for an astonishingly low price, for example:

1997 Fanuc S420IW for $3,800. Refurbished, complete, 100% working, and looks great.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fanuc-Robot...8140669&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=271770553090


Any reason why you couldn't put a milling head on that thing and have the world's most versatile milling (and plasma cutting, and welding, and painting, and dog walking, and hamburger cooking) machine, all for less than the price of a 3-axis CNC mill? Why not?

Like I said, dumb question; I am not all that knowledgeable about milling, and I know even less about robots. But I'd like to know what would stand in one's way of doing this. Is your typical 1997 model eBay robot not rigid enough for milling? is there no affordable software available to make it happen?

 

[T Bredehoft]

At a raw guess, software and the stuff to run it on may exceed cost of the robot.
On second thought. it appears to have some control system with it.

I'm not at all sure it would be rigid enough for what we consider normal milling in metal. Working soft wood or plastic might be feasible.

 

[markso125]

I ran those robots for a few years when I was coating stainless pistons with Tungsten carbide, they were very temperamental and not that accurate because of rigidity. We would not have been able to use them as much as we did if we didn't have the option of changing parameters every few parts to match the runs.

 

[cjtoombs]

I think those robots would be good for manufacturing, where you could set them up, dial them in and let them do the same thing over and over. I concur with the comment above, I think the software for generating the movement for those is VERY expensive. When I say VERY expensive, I'm talking like 10s of thousands of dollars per year license fees. They have to do kinematic calculations. For a CNC mill, there is only one position it can be in in order to position a tool at an XYZ or even AB location, for a robot, there are many combinations that can result in the same position.

 

[Metal]

They are really neat
But not knowing how they work and putting one in your garage is just asking to have holes punched in the walls, ceiling, or having you killed
They are much, much more dangerous than a mill since they have a huge working area that you have to more or less enter to get your part.

 

[markso125]

Probably the best use we have for robots in cnc manufacturing is loading and unloading of cnc machines. The machine tools maintain the rigidity and the correct tooling and are a lot more efficient then robots currently are at machining.

In the near future we will probably be doing the majority of machine work with metal deposition machining (also known as metal sintering) instead of metal removal and possibly using robots to finish parts

 

[markso125]

For anyone that is curious about sintering here you go

 

[strantor]

I have a 3D printer (plastics) and have been keeping loose tabs on the hobbyist 3D printing world. Some have been doing some exciting stuff with lasers and getting closer to viable in-home 3D metal sintering machines. I will let them iron out all the kinks before I take the plunge.

 

[Metal]

I have a 3D printer (plastics) and have been keeping loose tabs on the hobbyist 3D printing world. Some have been doing some exciting stuff with lasers and getting closer to viable in-home 3D metal sintering machines. I will let them iron out all the kinks before I take the plunge.

Note that the 3d printing world is full of total baloney.
I've been into it for a while, and people constantly make claims which are physically impossible, regularly, and folks just nod and smile.

 

[JimDawson]

I'm not aware of any hobbyists using milling robots, but I do know of one local company that does specialized woodworking that uses a machine like that. The work is mounted to a rotary table, and the router spindle is attached to a heavy robot arm. I think the work envelope is about an 8 foot cube, maybe a bit larger.

You should be able to machine steel if the system is stable enough. The CAM software to generate 6 or 8 axis tool paths CAM might be a bit pricy. I think MasterCAM can do it with the proper plugins. ~$20,000 per seat. Thinking about the G-code makes my head hurt. The CNC software should not be terribly expensive, Mach3 will run 6 axis.