Robotic milling of a bull-head sculpture: simulation vs. the real 7-axis KUKA cell

Simulation and real cut in one frame. MecDATA recorded the milling of a bull-head sculpture on a 7-axis KUKA robot and placed the ENCY Robot simulation next to the live footage. The same toolpath runs in both views, from roughing the block to the finished head.

Kinematics, not just toolpaths. Robotic milling needs more than a tool trajectory. The program has to account for how the robot moves, its kinematics and the additional axes of the cell. In ENCY CAD/CAM software MecDATA programs the job, simulates the whole cell and verifies the process before it reaches the controller.

What you simulate is what the robot does. The side-by-side shows the programmed motion reproduced on the real robot. MecDATA uses the same approach to assess customer applications and prepare robotic machining demos on their own parts.