Robot-assisted shape deposition manufacturing

Abstract

Solid freeform fabrication and shape deposition are rapid manufacturing processes which build parts by incremental material deposition and fusion of cross-sectional layers. In this paper, several thermal deposition processes are described for directly fabricating prototype metal shapes using robotically manipulated material deposition systems. A robotic palletizing/part transfer system is also described which integrates multiple deposition and shaping processes into a single facility for rapidly manufacturing functional shapes.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>