Robotic grinding and polishing of complex aeroengine blades based on new device design and variable impedance control

Owing to the advantages of good flexibility and low cost, robots are gradually replacing manual labor as an effective carrier for the grinding and polishing of aeroengine blades. However, the geometric features of blades are complex and diverse, and the contour accuracy and surface quality requirements are high, making the robotic grinding and polishing of blades still a challenging task. For this reason, this article first designs a new device by integrating different tools, which can achieve full-feature grinding and polishing of blades. Then, in order to improve the accuracy and stability of force tracking during the robotic grinding and polishing processes, a variable impedance control approach with simultaneous changes in stiffness and damping and parameter boundaries is proposed. Finally, the superiority of the proposed variable impedance control method is verified by comparative experiments on surface tracking. In addition, by combining the device with the variable impedance control method in the robotic grinding and polishing experiments of an aeroengine blade, their effectiveness in practical situations is confirmed.