Development of a CAD/CAE/CAM system for a robot manipulator

In this study, a CAD/CAE/CAM integrated system for a robot manipulator was developed. The D-H (Denavit-Hartenberg) coordinate transformation method was used to perform the robot position analysis, according to the transformation matrices, we used Matlab to calculate the robot position analysis. Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) was used to construct the robot manipulator parametric solid models, Pro/Mechanica was used to simulate the dynamic simulation and working space, MasterCAM was used to implement the cutting simulation, and the prototype was manufactured using a CNC milling machine. Finally, a CAD/CAE/CAM integrated system for a robot manipulator was developed. A demonstration example is presented to verify the design, analysis, and manufacture results (the demonstration is located at the website of http://www.sparc.nhit.edu.tw/similar tojennifer/robot1/index.htm). This integrated system not only promotes automation capabilities for robot manipulator production, but also simplifies the CAD/CAE/CAM process for a robot manipulator. This integrated system is useful for developing a supplementary teaching tool for practical computer-aided mechanism design courses. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.