Luuk Alkemade | Thanusan Thurairajah | Mathijs Cok | Robert Hulsbergen
Prototype enables efficient edge finishing of metal plates with complex shapes and low volumes.
26 January 2026
Dumaco Montfoort introduces a prototype installation that automatically mills the contours of metal plates using a robot arm combined with vision-based toolpath generation. The system enables reliable edge finishing for steel, aluminium and stainless steel plates, preparing them for subsequent powder coating.
Sharp edges on metal plates reduce powder-coating adhesion, especially at the contours. Traditionally, these edges are milled by hand—a labour-intensive and repetitive task with limited workforce availability. Due to high shape variation, small batch sizes and material differences, conventional CNC programming and clamping are inefficient or impractical.
The developed installation automates contour milling using a UR10e cobot mounted on a mobile table and equipped with a dedicated milling end-of-arm tool. A modular vacuum clamping system with movable pods securely fixes plates of varying shapes while keeping all contours accessible. An overhead camera captures the plate geometry, after which a vision algorithm converts the detected contour into a robot toolpath. The result is a consistent radius along all reachable edges.
“The goal was to verify whether a cobot combined with vision technology could mill contours accurately enough for high-quality surface results. I didn’t expect more well done,” says Eric, project supervisor at Dumaco.