Systems and methods for sanding a surface of a structure

1. A system for sanding a surface of a structure, the system comprising:

a sanding tool comprising an abrasive surface;

a robotic manipulator coupled to the sanding tool and configured to move the sanding tool relative to the structure; and

a control unit operatively coupled with the sanding tool and the robotic manipulator, wherein the control unit is operable to:

move the sanding tool to a sanding position relative to the surface of the structure using the robotic manipulator, in which the abrasive surface is in contact with the surface and a sanding force, applied to the surface of the structure by the sanding tool, is approximately normal to the surface;

set one or more sanding parameters corresponding to a model material removal rate;

monitor one or more of the sanding parameters when the sanding tool is in the sanding position;

determine an actual material removal rate, based on one or more of the sanding parameters being monitored; and

modify one or more of the sanding parameters until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate based on a comparison of the actual removal rate and the model material removal rate.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a number of sensors configured to detect a condition of one or more of the sanding parameters.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

one of the sanding parameters being monitored is the sanding force applied to the surface of the structure by the sanding tool; and

the control unit is operable to adjust the sanding force until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

one of the sanding parameters being monitored is an abrasive-surface velocity of the abrasive surface relative to the sanding tool; and

the control unit is operable to adjust the abrasive-surface velocity until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

one of the sanding parameters being monitored is a sanding-tool velocity of the sanding tool relative to the surface; and

the control unit is operable to adjust the sanding-tool velocity until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operable to:

monitor a torque applied to the sanding tool by the surface of the structure; and

adjust an angular orientation of the sanding tool using the robotic manipulator so that the torque applied to the sanding tool is below a predetermined torque-threshold.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operable to:

determine a spatial position of the surface of the structure from a three-dimensional model representing at least a portion of the surface of the structure; and

position the sanding tool in the sanding position based on the spatial position of the surface.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a three-dimensional scanner communicatively coupled with the control unit; and wherein:

the three-dimensional scanner is configured to detect the spatial position of the surface of the structure; and

the control unit is operable to generate the three-dimensional model, representing at least a portion of the surface, from a scanner output generated by the three-dimensional scanner.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein:

the sanding tool further comprises a sanding axis, perpendicular to the abrasive surface; and

the control unit is operable to:

generate a normal vector at a point on the three-dimensional model of the surface of the structure;

angularly orient the sanding tool relative to the surface using the robotic manipulator so that the sanding axis is aligned with the normal vector; and

linearly locate the sanding tool relative the surface along the normal vector using the robotic manipulator so that a virtual plane representing the abrasive surface is coplanar with the three-dimensional model of the surface.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operable to:

move the sanding tool across the surface along a sanding path using the robotic manipulator;

regularly monitor one or more of the sanding parameters when the sanding tool moves across the surface along the sanding path;

regularly determine the actual material removal rate, based on one or more of the sanding parameters being monitored, when the sanding tool moves across the surface along the sanding path; and

regularly modify one or more of the sanding parameters so that the actual material removal rate is consistently maintained approximately equal to the model material removal rate when the sanding tool moves across the surface along the sanding path.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is operable to:

consistently maintain the sanding tool in the sanding position using the robotic manipulator when the sanding tool moves across the surface along the sanding path; or

regularly reposition the sanding tool in the sanding position using the robotic manipulator when the sanding tool moves across the surface along the sanding path.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is operable to:

utilize a model sanding path that extends across a work surface on which the structure is located; and

automatically designate portions of the model sanding path that intersect the surface of the structure as the sanding path.

13. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a user interface communicatively coupled with the control unit; and wherein:

the user interface is configured to receive directional input from an operator; and

the control unit is operable to incrementally generate the sanding path based on the directional input from the user interface.

14. A method for sanding a surface of a structure, the method comprising steps of:

moving a sanding tool to a sanding position relative to the surface of the structure in which an abrasive surface of the sanding tool is in contact with the surface and a sanding force, applied to the surface of the structure by the sanding tool, is approximately normal to the surface;

setting one or more sanding parameters corresponding to a model material removal rate;

monitoring one or more of the sanding parameters when the sanding tool is in the sanding position;

determining an actual material removal rate, based on one or more of the sanding parameters being monitored; and

modifying one or more of the sanding parameters until that the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the one or more sanding parameters being monitored comprises at least one of the sanding force applied to the surface of the structure by the sanding tool and an abrasive-surface velocity of the abrasive surface relative to the sanding tool; and

the step of modifying one or more of the sanding parameters comprises adjusting at least one of the sanding force and the abrasive-surface velocity until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising steps of:

moving the sanding tool across the surface along a sanding path;

regularly monitoring one or more of the sanding parameters, when moving the sanding tool across the surface along the sanding path;

regularly determining the actual material removal rate, based on one or more of the sanding parameters being monitored, when moving the sanding tool across the surface along the sanding path; and

regularly modifying one or more of the sanding parameters so that the actual material removal rate is consistently maintained approximately equal to the model material removal rate when moving the sanding tool across the surface along the sanding path.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein:

the one or more of the sanding parameters being monitored further comprises a sanding-tool velocity of the sanding tool relative to the structure; and

the step of regularly modifying one or more of the sanding parameters comprises adjusting the sanding-tool velocity until the actual material removal rate is approximately equal to the model material removal rate when moving the sanding tool across the surface along the sanding path.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

utilizing a model sanding path that extends across a work surface on which the structure is located; and

designating portions of the model sanding path that intersect the surface of the structure as the sanding path.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving directional input from an operator by a user interface; and

incrementally generating the sanding path based on the directional input from the user interface.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

determining a spatial position of the surface of the structure from a three-dimensional model representing at least a portion of the surface of the structure; and

positioning the sanding tool in the sanding position based on the spatial position of the surface.