Journal of Modern Processes in Manufacturing and Production, Volume 9, No. 4, Autumn 2020 5 DOR: 20.1001.1.27170314.2020.9.4.1.9 Research Paper Path Planning and Control of an Industrial Robot Used for Opening Tap Hole of an Electric Arc Furnace Mohammad Esmaeili 1 , Mohammad Saadat 1* 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran * Email of Corresponding Author: saadat@pmc.iaun.ac.ir Received: August 2, 2020; Accepted: October 19, 2020 Abstract The electric arc furnace (EAF) is one of the popular methods of steel production from steel scraps. The plasma arc is used in EAF to generate heat for melting scarp or direct reduced iron (DRI). The liquid metal is drained from the EAF through the tap hole. Nowadays, it is critical to use Automated/robotic tools for opening the tap hole with oxygen lancing. Because many workers have been blinded by spraying molten particles in opening operation. This study was aimed to simulate a robot manipulator with five degrees of freedom designed for opening the tap hole of an electrical arc furnace. The geometrical model of the robot was designed in Solid works software according to the real workplace and its expected path and obstacles. The Newton-Euler approach was employed to derive the dynamic equations and the resultant joint torques. The dynamic model is used to obtain the operating torques of the joints as well as in the simulation using the SimMechanic toolbox in Matlab software. The results of the simulation with SimMechanic show that the control system can follow the desired path of the robot with acceptable accuracy. Keywords Electric Arc Furnace, Industrial Robot, Path Planning, PID Control, SimMechanic 1. Introduction The electric arc furnace is used to provide high-quality steels from raw materials of steel scarp [1]. The electric arc furnace which is used in steelmaking was invented in 1889 by Paul He´roult. The first-generation furnaces capacity was 1 to 15 tons. In the 1960s, with the advent of billet casting, the EAF occupied another niche: it was a choice for the melting so-called mini-mills. This mini mill was used for the production of rebar and wire rods [2]. In the following two decades, to decrease the tap-to-tap time required by the billet casters, the EAF reinvented itself as a melting-only unit. Steel refining was left for the recently introduced ladle furnace. Large transformers were introduced; ultrahigh-power furnaces developed, which were made possible by adopting foaming slag practice. In this way, tap-to-tap time became close to casting time. In 1985, a new niche for electric steelmaking began to be taken: flat products through thin slab casting and direct rolling. Also, this process route has achieved a significant role in world steel production. The development of EAF technology since 1965, including lower power consumption, reduced tap-to-tap time, and reduced electrode consumption, is shown in Figure 1 [1].