Guide to Choosing the Right Feed Rate in Robot Machining

RoboDK has released a technical guide on feed rate in machining. Feed rate refers to the speed at which a cutting tool advances through the workpiece, and its calculation depends on workpiece material, tool geometry, machine rigidity, and desired finish quality. The guide introduces three ways to express feed rate: feed per tooth, feed per revolution, and feed per minute, and provides a two-step method for calculating optimal milling feed rate: first calculate spindle speed based on surface speed and tool diameter, then combine feed per tooth and number of flutes to obtain the feed rate. The guide notes that feed rate behaves differently on a machining robot compared to a rigid conventional CNC machine. The stiffness of an industrial robot is usually below 1 N/μm, compared to over 50 N/μm for conventional machine tools, making robots more sensitive to vibrations and affecting the maximum achievable feed rate. Robot path planning must also account for joint speed, acceleration, and jerk limits, as well as motion smoothing. RoboDK recommends simulating toolpaths in a robot simulator before cutting. This information comes from the original source and was organized by AI.