Application of an active pneumatic actuator to robotic deburring

Purpose – The paper aims to develop a robotic deburring method based on a new active pneumatic tool. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a new active pneumatic tool, which is developed by integrating two industrial pneumatic deburring tools based on a double cutting action – initial cut followed by fine cut. A simple control method is developed, which coordinates the motion of the tools and the arm. Findings – The study finds that the developed method can improve robotic deburring in terms of speed and accuracy. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides guidance for the design of a pneumatic deburring tool, its integration with an industrial robot, and robotic deburring control. Practical implications – The new deburring tool prevents large contact force and bouncing from occurring during the contact transition. In addition, the developed deburring method demonstrates significant improvement in deburring speed and accuracy in comparison with other methods, which is translated into cost‐effective deburring. Originality/value – The paper introduces an efficient robotic deburring method, which is developed based on a new active pneumatic tool, considers the interaction among the tool, the manipulator, and the workpiece, and couples the tool dynamics and a control design.