Which package/solution to use for sanding a complex 3d shape
Hello everyone,
Sorry for the global question, but I'm running out of ideas on how to tackle this problem:
We (students) have been asked to see if it's possible to automatically sand a complex shape with a sander and a robotic arm( a UR5/10 in this case). We've came to ROS so we can automatically generate a path (bezier/noether) on the part (by importing a CAD-file (converting it to different extensions as appropiate)), but all examples are based on simple (almost flat) surfaces.
The surface in question we want to sand is this.
The idea was that it's possible to select parts of a surface for parts to be generated on, and the closest we got to is by working with the godel package, and while we're still experimenting with it, at first sight it doesn't look too promising.
So the question is, is there a viable way to do with with a ROS package, or should we go back to the drawing board and consider just making the path manually with jogging the UR and re-running the paths. Or is there a completely different way to tackle this kind of problem?
Any advice is appreciated!
This is an incredibly hard problem and not something I've heard of being done with ROS. You're closer to the realm of CNC milling tool path planning, which is quite a beast.
This is actually possible, see this tweet for instance.
That is all ROS(-Industrial).
@SHem: I would look at Godel (called "Scan-and-Plan" now) Milestone 4. That specifically added support for doubly curved surfaces.
this is a rather unqualified statement, which makes it impossible to respond to.
Also: please attach your image directly to this question. You have enough karma for that.
@gvdhoorn Importing the entire cad-file of the shape into godel (as a .pcd) results into godel transforming just a small part of the shape as a surface, and then making a path on that. No amount of variation with settings/variables have changed this outcome so far, so that's what I ment with that.
You're right though, still scraping the surface of what godel can offer right now, and since we're just starting with it and with not much documentation around, it's hard to get a handle of what's possible and what isn't right now.
Tbh: Godel is a work in progress, with M4 'released' a few months ago. It is not a finished product, and very code-centric at the moment. What you want is definitely possible, it's just going to require time to understand what is going on.
Loading in a new mesh and expecting everything to work ..
.. is probably not realistic.
All I know is: what you asked in your OP is possible with Godel and the A5 system (which have some commonalities). That's why I mentioned them. It wasn't an answer, so that's why I posted comments.