We developed a new robot system that generates pinholes expressing texts or images pre-designed by a developed computer simulator on a plastic plate. The pin-holed plate is used as a new glamorous display board reflecting colorful lights from the light emitting diode (LED) installed on the edge side of the plate. The punching robot has four degrees of freedom (DOF) motion and can make same multiple holes in four plastic plates simultaneously. For this motion, we designed a structure for a simultaneous motion of the robot including three stepping motors for X-Y motion and rotational motion and one AC servo motor for a punching motion. For even reflection of the lights from texts or images on the board and fast production of the pin-holed boards, fast motion including precise position and depth of the robot is most important. For this, we designed joint actuators using timing belts and ballscrews without backlash. We also built a PC-based integrated control system including a GUI program to help users easily design luminous texts or images on the plastic plate.
We conducted a performance test of the robot to verify the punching speed and position and depth control of the pin holes on the plate. Test results showed a fast motion, accurate position and depth control of the pinholes. Also, we presented a picture showing colorful luminous texts on the produced display board as a robot performance.