Robotic machining Fives targets large-part machining with Robo TDM

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Matching machining accuracy to the application can open up alternatives to large CNC machine tools. Fives’ Liné Machines Robo TDM targets large components with tolerances around 0.1 mm, combining robotic flexibility with milling, trimming and drilling capabilities. Development trials reportedly cut cycle times by up to 70 per cent in trimming and milling.

Machining large components requires a large CNC machine tool, right? Well, not always. What happens when the required tolerance is measured in tenths rather than hundredths of a millimeter? For some applications, investing in a CNC machine results in paying for unnecessary capability. Fives High Precision Machines (Fives HPM) provides a different approach with the Liné Machines Robo TDM, a high-precision robotic machining solution that brings direct milling, trimming, and drilling to large workpieces.

Not every large component demands ultra-high precision. For applications where tolerances down to approximately 0.1 mm are acceptable, the Liné Machines Robo TDM provides a highly attractive alternative. By equipping an industrial robot with a specialized end effector incorporating a spindle, toolholder, and cutter, the system can perform material removal directly on the workpiece.

The result is a flexible approach to large-part machining that reduces equipment requirements while delivering significant productivity gains. Potential operations include metal face milling or deburring, such as removing burrs from castings and trimming excess weld beads. It could also include drilling pilot holes on large aerospace panels or automotive body parts, as well as trimming, routing, drilling, edge contouring, and pocketing on large composite or thermoplastic fabrications.

Matching the machine to the tolerance

Using a CNC machine tool for these applications will typically involve substantial set-up time and programming. The Liné Machines Robo TDM, part of Fives’ Material Removal (MR) business line, changes the equation. Rather than bringing the entire component into a large machine envelope, the machining capability is brought directly to the workpiece.

For suitable applications, this strategy can deliver major advantages in flexibility, cost and cycle time. A Fives’ R&D project and development trials spanning several years have demonstrated cycle time reductions of up to 70 percent in trimming and milling, with some individual applications achieving even greater savings.

The technology therefore addresses a simple but increasingly important manufacturing question: does the application actually necessitate a large CNC machine, or does it simply require a reliable and accurate way of putting a cutting tool in the right place?

Closing the accuracy gap

Industrial robots have traditionally struggled to answer that question. Their inherent flexibility comes at the expense of positional accuracy, with conventional systems typically achieving tolerances of around 0.3 mm — insufficient for many machining applications.

The development work for Robo TDM focused on closing the accuracy gap through high-precision robotic machining (HPRM). Here, robot calibration techniques, together with advanced look-ahead and motion-planning algorithms, allow the processing of programs containing more than one million points without the latency that can otherwise compromise robot motion. The result is smoother trajectory execution, supporting multi-axis contouring and complex machining operations in a way that is more closely comparable with CNC machining.

According to the company Robo TDM can reduce machining deviation up to 100 μm (0.1 mm). This represents a threefold improvement over conventional robotic accuracy and changes the range of applications for which robotic machining becomes viable.