Robot drilling clamp

A robotic drilling system, comprising:

• a robotic drill having a drilling tool;
• a workpiece holder for holding a workpiece to be machined;
• a clamp attached to the drilling tool, the clamp comprising:
• an attachment portion attached to the drilling tool;
• a frame linearly moveable relative to the attachment portion along a central axis of the clamp concentric with a drilling direction of the drilling tool;
• an actuation mechanism comprising a servo motor configured to drive linear movement of the frame relative to the drilling tool;
• a workpiece contacting portion at a distal end of the frame, comprising a surface for contacting a surface of a workpiece to be drilled and an aperture allowing for passage of a drill bit of the drilling tool through to the workpiece surface;
• and
• a force sensor arranged to measure a force acting on the workpiece contacting portion in the drilling direction,
• the robotic drilling system further comprising:
• a controller connected and arranged for control of the robotic drill and clamp,
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• actuate the robotic drill to contact the surface of the workpiece contacting portion of the clamp with a workpiece to be machined;
• actuate the servo motor to drive the clamp on to the workpiece while measuring a force from the force sensor until a predetermined force has been reached;
• and
• operate the drilling tool to drill a hole into the workpiece.