The design and feasibility test of a mobile semi-auto scraping system

Abstract

Metal scraping is a fundamental technique to improve the flatness of component surface such that mating parts can fit well. Scraping is a time-consuming process and is frequently conducted by experienced technician. In order to reduce time-consuming labor work, ways or equipment have been proposed or developed to improve the efficiency of the process. In this study, a mobile semi-auto scraping system was presented and tested. The system was equipped with a camera to detect the tinted area for scraping, and a three-axis moving mechanism to move the scraping tool. The major difference of the proposed system with those proposed by other researchers is that the proposed system is a moveable lightweight system. The total weight of the proposed system is around 30 kg such that it can be easily moved to the place where scraping work is needed. With such a lightweight system, the stiffness of the proposed system may not be as high as those proposed by other researchers. With such a much flexible system, how well the scraping system can work is studied. A series of tests were conducted to evaluate the proper setting for the depth of cut first. Then verification tests are conducted to study the capability of the proposed system. The test results show that although the structure of the proposed system is not as rigid as those adopted by other researcher, and the scraper is usually deflected, the sample scraped with the proposed system can still reach the standard for high precision machine.