In context
As aerospace, energy, and electronics industries demand increasingly complex curved parts with stringent surface integrity requirements, traditional manual polishing struggles to maintain consistency. Industrial robots offer flexibility and automation, but their inherent positioning errors and stiffness anisotropy limit their use in precision polishing. Force-controlled polishing has emerged as a key enabler, prompting a systematic review of its technologies and challenges.
What was reported
The review, published in the journal Robot, outlines two main approaches to force-controlled polishing: robot-body-based control and end-effector-based control. Robot-body methods include hybrid force/position control and impedance control, with recent advances incorporating neural networks, fuzzy PID, and adaptive impedance strategies to handle complex surfaces and environmental uncertainties. For example, one study achieved force control accuracy of 20±2 N on mold steel, while another reported steady-state accuracy of 5±1.5 N for blade polishing.
End-effector-based systems use a macro-micro architecture, where the robot handles positioning and a dedicated force control device manages contact force. Passive devices, such as compliant mechanisms, rely on offline calibration and lack real-time feedback, making them less suitable for complex curved surfaces. Active devices enable real-time response, but challenges remain in modeling robot dynamics and environmental stiffness, especially under high-bandwidth requirements.
The review also analyzes how polishing path, robot pose, positioning accuracy, and process parameters affect surface waviness and roughness. It highlights that optimizing these factors is critical for achieving high surface quality, particularly for applications like optical components and aerospace structures.
Why it mattered
This review consolidates the state of the art in robotic force-controlled polishing, identifying key bottlenecks such as dynamic modeling complexity and environmental uncertainty. It underscores the need for integrated approaches that combine force control, path planning, and parameter optimization to expand robotic polishing into high-precision manufacturing, paving the way for automated systems that can consistently produce parts with superior surface integrity.
"Force-controlled precision polishing technology is a necessary choice to address these challenges and expand the application of robots to precision polishing process."
Source: 《机器人》期刊 (robot.sia.cn) · Published 2025-09-16 · “机器人力控精密抛光技术研究进展”