Cutting with the Band Saw

Owned by Courtney Morshed
Last updated: May 18, 2023
3 min read

In 2023, the robotics lab acquired an end-of-arm tool that holds a portable band saw. This tool can be used to make long, flat cuts through various materials.

The band saw can be mounted on either robot, but the work envelope has significantly fewer obstacles around HAL than around TARS. Therefore, we recommend using HAL for most operations.

Always use personal protective equipment when running the robots, particularly with the band saw.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Prepare a KRL script using Grasshopper with the KUKA PRC Plugin.

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    1. You have to understand your tool and work base setup before you can program the toolpath in Grasshopper. It's not necessary to model the whole room!
    2. The important thing when planning a project using the band saw is to visualize your cut as a ruled surface. The center of the saw blade will be following a single path, exported from your rhino file, but the ruled surface will provide the orientation at each tool point.
    3. Please see the /wiki/spaces/SOAdigitech/pages/75235867 for grasshopper for instructions on downloading and using KukaPRC for grasshopper
    4. There are several things to note before finalizing your file:
      1. The Tool and Base information must be identical on the pendant and in Rhino.
      2. Rhino units must be set to mm.
      3. The work piece must be set in relation to point (0,0,0) in Rhino. Rhino-space is therefore the same as Base space.
        1. When running the band saw, the top speed will be quite slow, so you can set the speed at 50% in your grasshopper file and still have plenty of leeway while running the program.
    5. Export the .src file to a usb drive and insert that into the usb port on the front of the controller.

  2. Mount the band saw.

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    1. First, remove any end-of-arm tooling that might be on the machine.
    2. Collect the band saw, the mounting plate, two 5/16x4" galvanized steel bolts, four washers and two nuts from their storage bin.

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      1. Check the bolts for signs of wear or bending before using. These bolts are under a lot of strain.
    3. Attach the plate to the robot, using five (5) M8x20mm socket head machine screws.
      1. The plate is marked with the word "Front" and a white arrow.
        1. The white arrow indicates which end of the plate should be aligned with the white mark on the robot flange.
        2. With the end-of-arm, axis 6 flange facing you and the white arrow oriented upward, the saw will be mounted upright, with the cutting edge of the blade on the right side.
        3. The word "front" on the mounting plate is the cutting direction of the saw and should be pointing to the right in the scenario above.
    4. Align the rear mounting channels on the saw with the red marks indicated on the mounting plate.
    5. Insert the 5/16 x 4" bolts and tighten.
    6. The band saw is tool number 5 on both robots and it should be pre-calibrated and ready to use.

  3. Mount the workpiece on the base.

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    1. This is a step that will change from project to project.
    2. Keep in mind that the piece needs to be securely held down, within reach of the tool, oriented for the best positioning of the tool, and placed such that there are no collisions between the holding apparatus and the robot.
    3. Once this is mounted and calibrated, you may need to adjust settings in grasshopper to match settings in the real world.

      Mount your workpiece.

  4. Test the toolpath with the saw in place but not running, to ensure that the saw blade is entering the work piece where it is expected to.
  5. Run the program, paying very close attention to the dynamics of the saw blade and adjusting the speed appropriately.
  6. Remove the tool and place it on the shelf.
  7. Clean the workspace.