Automation · CNC · Software
Automated soft-jaw cell
A simulation-first system that turns a part model into machinable soft jaws, then plans and simulates a robot arm tending a CNC mill to make them unattended.
Making soft jaws and tending a CNC machine is repetitive, low-skill work. This project automates it so it can run unattended during otherwise idle machine time — built for machinists with variable schedules, such as a day job plus a home or small shop on evenings and weekends, to give back time for fixturing, programming and process development.
How it works. From a part model to jaws, then the robot and the mill.
Given a part model and its orientation in the vise, the system generates and validates a pair of machinable Delrin soft jaws, then plans and simulates a robot arm moving blanks between a rack and a Haas Mini Mill. The first cell profile is a Haas Mini Mill, a pneumatically actuated 5-inch vise, a reBot B601-DM arm and Mastercam; machines, vises, blanks, grippers, robots and CAM systems are data profiles, so new equipment can be added without code changes.
Shop app. A control centre for the cell, in simulation only.
A shop web app ties it together: a control centre with a live 3D view of the cell, a jaw-set library, programs to review, a blank rack, scheduled downtime windows and auto-run. The current build is simulation only — no physical robot or CNC command path is enabled, and jobs stay provisional until the layout dimensions are measured.