For the milling of this 2.1m high cork sculpture, I used GH to optimize the 2D-cutting of the strata for the stock shape (with the help of Open Nest).
I scanned the stock to check if the part fitted inside (Reality vs CAD).
Then, the roughing paths were generated in Fusion 360 and simulated+exported to the KUKA robot with KUKA|prc.
Finishing used an in-house 5 axis toolpath generation definition with collision avoidance.
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Fantastic work & workflow! Great use of a rotary table, too. I my world, this is a 7-axis setup, but looks like A1 & A2 are fixed in your process. Cheers!
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Hi Steve,
Yeah, the whole axis naming is quite confusing.
Here, all 7 axis are at work, in fact.
Here are un-edited (a bit boring) videos of :
ROUGHING “3 axis sequential” (Table turning 4x90° to knock out the “steps”)
FINISHING “5 axis continuous” (Syncronous table+robot operation)
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Thanks for sharing process photos & the videos! Fully enjoyed them.
Love to see it! I don’t think we get too many KUKA posts (we have 3 in my lab at school). Never really thought about milling cork. Can you explain your material choice? Lighter result, maybe? Normal end mill bits? I know thinner cork laser cuts well, but it looks like you did some 2-axis milling of the flat parts, first.
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Nice work! Can you tell me, which software / workflow was used to create this scan?
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It’s not my choice, but that of my client.
They like using natural materials.
These cork slabs are made from steam-pressed cork crumbs, and the process releases tannin that acts like a bonding agent.
It is a bit fragile, but very pleasant to work with, as it smells like smoked tea.
I used regular wood roughing mills and for the finishing, a special mill normaly used for polystyrene.
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That came out super nice, thanks for sharing!!
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Kuka|prc rocks !
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I’m like what’s that, so I chatgpt’ed it 
“KUKA|prc (Parametric Robot Control) is a plugin for Grasshopper, a visual programming environment within Rhino 3D. It enables users to program KUKA industrial robots directly from Grasshopper, facilitating complex robotic tasks such as milling, 3D printing, and custom fabrication. This integration allows for parametric design and real-time simulation, streamlining the workflow between design and robotic manufacturing.”
So I went to their website, and now I’m like wait what 
My company’s got a couple Kukas too
I still like to get that fancy turntable though 
I’ve been dreaming about a solution like this for many years.
I wonder how this compares to RoboDK. 
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KUKA|prc has complete integration with Rhino/GH…
It also reads toolpaths from Fusion 360, which is quite handy.
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That’s weird. Does that mean it reads all G-code? Or is it like an .INI file or something…
I wonder if it reads code from Mastercam for example.
Johannes made a specific post-processor that allows Fusion to write a HTML file which is read by KUKA-prc.
It might be possible through the “generic 5axis NC import” component.
Importing G-code frome slicers is also possible, but I have never tested.
You might want to ask him directly (see his post above).
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HTML is weird to me. Maybe cause Fusion is cloud based idk.
Before Mastecam creates G-code, it’s formatted as and INI extension I think.
I guess I’m merely wondering if this KUKA-prc handles the G-code language instead.
Maybe the robots don’t really call it G-code, so I might be on a tangent.
Oh I see, that’s possibly closer to what I’m hoping.
Very interesting. 
I was having correspondences with RoboDK back in 2022 abouts, and was discussing with them on the subject of building setups like this with robots, and even more CNC styles setups, cause I look at cartesian robots the same as I do articulation robots.
At the time I was looking for a revelationary solution for CNC entirely. I was pretty sick of the CAM solutions at the time.
I got through the struggle I was in at the time, but the issues are still there.
I think the industry is in dire need of solutions like this KUKA-prc.
I’ll be glad to learn more about it. I’m glad to have seen this thread today. 
Sorry, I meant “XML”.
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