Towards a fully autonomous robotic system for detection and removal of surface defects in fiber glass panels

Wind blades for turbines are commonly manufactured from fiber glass. A last step in the manufacturing process of such blades is sanding of the surface to remove defects that occur during the process. This paper presents an autonomous robotic system performing sanding operations for surface defect removal in fiber glass panels. The proposed approach uses a collaborative robotic system equipped with a vision system. Surface defects are detected using traditional computer vision algorithms and a path planning strategy is designed that solves multi-goal and coverage path planning problems. The robotic system equipped with a specialized end-effector will autonomously perform sanding of the defected areas using a constant velocity control system. Experimental results are evaluated based on the accuracy of the defect detection and roughness measurements before and after the sanding process has been completed.