Robotic shape forming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026027712-A1
Application number	US-202519268478-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 14, 2025
Priority date	Jul 29, 2024
Publication date	Jan 29, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

A robotic shaping and forming system comprising a plurality of opposing robotic arms, a work platform for supporting a non-planar workpiece and a computer system, the plurality of opposing robotic arms having multiple degrees of freedom and an end effector for holding a tool, and wherein at least one robotic arm being mounted on a radially extending rail, the computer system being connected to the plurality of robotic arms, the computer system controlling the movement of the robotic arms, so that at least a pair of robotic arms work together to shape and form a non-planar workpiece that is mounted upon a work platform.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A robotic shaping and forming system comprising a plurality of opposing robotic arms, a work platform for supporting a non-planar workpiece and a computer system, the plurality of opposing robotic arms having multiple degrees of freedom and an end effector for holding a tool, and wherein at least one robotic arm being mounted on a radially extending rail, the computer system being connected to the plurality of robotic arms, the computer system controlling the movement of the robotic arms, so that at least a pair of robotic arms work together to shape and form the non-planar workpiece that is mounted upon the work platform.

2 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein one robotic arm is mounted on the work platform and positioned at the centre of the non-planar workpiece that is mounted on the work platform, the robotic arm being able to rotate about a central axis on the work platform.

3 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of opposing robotic arms are all mounted on radially extending rails, so that the opposing robots are able to move towards the centre of the work platform and away from the work platform.

4 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the tool mounted to the end effector is interchangeable, and each robotic arm is provided with a tool rack for supporting and holding different tools for the end effector.

5 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 4 , wherein the tool rack also comprises a zero point, the zero point being a fixed position which the robotic arm can align itself to, so that the exact position of the end effector is known.

6 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of robotic arms are six degree of freedom industrial robots having a tip force of 20,000 N.

7 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein a number of sensors are positioned on the robotic arms, the sensors being mounted along the robotic arm to track the positioning of the robotic arms; and, this data output from the sensors being fed back into the computer system.

8 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the tools may be at least one of styluses, rollers, ultrasonic transducers, sensors, lasers or heat sources, and cutting tools.

9 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system incorporates a computer program, the computer program providing the signals to the robotic arms to move the plurality of robotic arms.

10 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 9 , wherein the computer program also calculates and determines the path for the tools to take along the surface of the non-planar workpiece and the movements required by the robotic arms to form the shape, the computer program using the initial shape of the non-planar workpiece and the desired final shape of the non-planar workpiece to determine the steps required to shape and form the non-planar workpiece into the desired shape.

11 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 10 , wherein Artificial Intelligence in the form of machine learning is used to improve the determination of the steps required to shape or form the non-planar workpiece, the artificial intelligence system using data from previous forming or shaping processes to improve the steps.

12 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 11 , wherein visual monitoring is used on the shaping and forming process, the visual monitoring results fed back into the computer system so that the artificial intelligence can use live data to update the steps required to shape and form the non-planar workpiece into the desired shape.

13 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 10 , wherein sensor data from the position of the plurality of robotic arms are input into the computer system, so that the positional data of the robotic arms is fed into the computer system to accurately determine the position and shape of the robot and the pressure applied to the end effector and tool, so that the model of the steps required to shape and form the non-planar workpiece into the desired shape.

14 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein the work platform is able to rotate about a central axis.

15 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein at least one clamp is attached to the non-planar workpiece.

16 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 , wherein first columns are mounted to the work platform, the first columns supporting a top plate that is positioned on the non-planar workpiece to hold it in position; wherein the top plate has an aperture large enough for the at least one robotic arm to access the non-planar workpiece via the aperture.

17 . The robotic shaping and forming system of claim 1 wherein second columns are mounted adjacent to the work platform, the second columns being provided with rollers to allow the non-planar workpiece to move relative to the second columns.

18 . A method of shaping and forming a non-planar structure using the robotic shaping and forming system of any preceding claim , the method comprising:
a design of the desired component is created; the design is input into the computer system; the controller determines the process steps for the robotic arms to shape and form the non-planar structure; the process is converted into a series of command signals to be transmitted to the robotic arms to carry out the operation; the non-planar structure is placed into the working area between the robotic arms; and the command instructions are outputted to the robotic arms and the non-planar structure is shaped and formed.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein physical information of the non-planar structure is input into the controller prior to determining the process steps, the physical information may include at least one of: physical dimensions, physical properties, and temperature of the component.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein sensor data on the position of the plurality of robotic arms is used to update the controller system in the determination of the process steps.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Hucker Paul A

Classifications

• B25J11/005

  Manipulators for mechanical processing tasks · CPC title

• B25J9/0084 Primary

  comprising a plurality of manipulators · CPC title

• B25J9/1664 Primary

  characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning · CPC title

• B25J9/1682

  Dual arm manipulator; Coordination of several manipulators · CPC title

• B25J13/088

  with position, velocity or acceleration sensors · CPC title