Kinematic modeling and error parameter identification of automated fiber placement machine based on measured data

This paper presents a novel kinematic modeling and error parameter identification method for a six-axis gantry automated fiber placement (AFP) machine. Multi-body system theory is used to model the kinematics of the AFP machine, and then use the homogeneous transformation matrix to represent the transfer relationship of the coordinate system. Based on 54 geometric errors of the AFP machine, a volumetric error transfer model is established. To eliminate the training bias caused by sampling randomness, 10-fold cross-validation combined with the Levenberg-Marquardt method is used to train the kinematic model of the AFP machine. Based on the coordinates of random points in space measured by a laser tracker, all the position-dependent geometric errors and position-independent geometric errors of the linear and rotary axes can be identified simultaneously. After the error parameters are identified, the average error of the random points in the X-direction is reduced from 0.72 to 0.08 mm, a drop of 88.9%. Corresponding experiments are carried out on the body diagonals and the winglet placement path. The experimental results show that the volumetric error transfer model and error parameter identification method proposed in the article can accurately predict the volumetric errors of the AFP machine, and can also meet the requirements of the AFP machine placement accuracy.