Abstract: A method of controlling movements of an industrial robot in relation to a surface, the method including providing a plurality of candidate target points for the industrial robot in an offline programming system; providing a plurality of actual reference points in the offline programming system, the actual reference points being indicative of a true profile of the surface; modifying the candidate target points in the offline programming system based on the actual reference points to provide a plurality of modified target points for the industrial robot; providing a target robot program for the industrial robot based on the modified target points; and executing the target robot program in a robot controller to thereby cause the industrial robot to perform movements in relation to the surface.

Abstract: A method of controlling an industrial actuator, the method including providing a plurality of consecutive input target points, of which at least one is an intermediate input target point; for one or more of the at least one intermediate input target point, defining at least one virtual target point associated with the intermediate input target point; for one or more of the at least one virtual target point, defining a blending zone associated with the virtual target point; and defining a movement path on the basis of the at least one virtual target point and the at least one blending zone. A control system is also provided.

Abstract: One exemplary embodiment is a method comprising generating robot control code from one or more files including part geometry parameters, material addition parameters, and robot system parameters. The robot control code includes instructions to control position and material output of an additive manufacturing tool adjustable over six degrees of freedom. The method includes simulating execution of the robot control code to generate a virtual part file including virtual part geometry parameters and material addition parameters, analyzing the virtual part geometry parameters and material addition parameters relative to the one or more files, and executing the robot control code with the controller to produce the part with robot system if the analyzing indicates that the virtual part satisfies one or more conditions.

Abstract: One exemplary embodiment is a method comprising generating robot control code from one or more files including part geometry parameters, material addition parameters, and robot system parameters. The robot control code includes instructions to control position and material output of an additive manufacturing tool adjustable over six degrees of freedom. The method includes simulating execution of the robot control code to generate a virtual part file including virtual part geometry parameters and material addition parameters, analyzing the virtual part geometry parameters and material addition parameters relative to the one or more files, and executing the robot control code with the controller to produce the part with robot system if the analyzing indicates that the virtual part satisfies one or more conditions.