CAMRA research and knowledge transfer

LARISSA stands for Laser Robotics - Integration of Scan and Focusing Units as Highly Dynamic System Axes.

Robot-guided laser material processing has become widely established in the material processing industry across many sectors. It enables cutting, marking, and welding of workpieces made from a variety of materials.

A key factor in achieving high-quality results is the precise guidance of the laser beam's focal point along the desired processing contour. With the development of increasingly powerful laser beam sources, processing speeds have become significantly faster—speeds that robots can only achieve with certain limitations.

When following typical processing contours, abrupt changes in speed and direction occur, which the robotic arm, due to its mechanical inertia, cannot immediately replicate. As a result, the potential processing speeds made possible by laser power are often not fully utilised.

In the LARISSA research project, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences, in collaboration with industry partners Reis Robotics and RAYLASE AG, developed and tested innovative system concepts for laser material processing with industrial robots.

The goal was to increase the dynamics and precision of robot-guided laser material processing through the implementation of a new control stategy and the use of redundant kinematics.

The Laboratory for Control Engineering was also involved in the research project.

ETARA stands for Devlopment and Testing Centre for Automation, Robotics, and Automotive. The goal of the project was to establish an infrastructure for the development and testing of software for automation and testing systemss, and to collaborate with industry partners from these sectors as part of a technology transfer intiative.

To achieve this, tools for rapid control prototyping were employed, which support common target systems from vaious application fields. For system testing, in addition to universally applicabe lab systems (e.g. dSPACE), the full range of industrial target systems in hardware were also made available. Furthermore, facilities for test automation were set up and operated, along with several example control loops.

In the robotics industry, futher development and implementation of force control functions tailored to industrial applications are crucial for opening up new areas of use. This functionality is especially important for robot-assisted material handling processes, such as grinding and polishing.

Currently, the application of force control in industrial robotics faces several technological challenges. The ForTeRob project aimed to address these issues by focusing on force-sensitive grinding and polishing with industrial robots.

The project combined innovative force control approaches with telematics-based support for end users, exporing solutions through prototype implementations and realistic tests.

The main objectives of the projects were:

• To conduct fundamental quantitative investigations into force control.
• To develop and test novel approaches for force control of industrial robots that leverage the mechanical properties of the axes, enabling paricularly sensitive and agile force control.
• To explore the feasibility of sensorless force control.
• To develop and evaluate a telematic control interface that allows experts to assist users in force-sensitive workpiece machining and remotely monitor corresponding robot-based manufacturing processes.