| Robotic Welding is another type of Welding. Learn | | | | their movement arm so they can move the arm in a |
| Welding and about RoboticWelding. | | | | rotation. |
| Robotic welding is used when an industry wants to | | | | |
| animate their welding process. You may know about | | | | The articulating robot is the second type of robot |
| this type of welding because it is often used on | | | | and it moves in irregular shapes. They have both |
| assembly line work, especially in the automotive | | | | arms and joints that rotate. In this process the arm |
| industry. | | | | moves similarly to the way a human arm works and |
| | | | | they also have the "wrist" that rotates at the end of |
| Robots are used to handle the parts that need to be | | | | the arm. |
| welded and to perform the weld. Robots are | | | | |
| generally used when you want to do resistance spot | | | | When setting up a robotic aspect of welding it is |
| welding or arc welding where there is a need for high | | | | important to realize that this is not the same as doing |
| production. | | | | welding manual. Many things have to be taken into |
| | | | | consideration around reliability, the number of axes |
| Although robotic welding is fairly new, they were | | | | you need and the space where the robots will be |
| started in about the 1980s when the automotive | | | | installed. |
| industry found that they could use robots to do spot | | | | |
| welding. As of 2005, there were over 60,000 robots | | | | On the human side of this you will have to make |
| being used in many industries in North America for | | | | sure that there is someone there to check the |
| welding. | | | | welds, someone to do maintenance and seam |
| | | | | tracking programs should be in place. |
| Robotic welding can be relatively expensive to do so | | | | |
| it can be difficult for some industries to bring in more | | | | Robotics has advantages and disadvantages. As an |
| equipment. Many robots are being "employed" to also | | | | example, many manufacturers use robots to do the |
| do arch welding and they have two parts: the | | | | monotonous tasks that are difficult for humans to |
| manipulator that is how the robot is able to move, | | | | continue to perform overtime. However, robots will |
| and the controller which is the "brain" of the | | | | need recalibration, reprogramming and regular |
| operation and actually performs the weld. | | | | maintenance. People need to be in place to take care |
| | | | | of these needs. |
| They can also optimize welds because of a process | | | | |
| known as signature image processing in which data | | | | You will also have to make sure that the robots you |
| can be collected from the robots in real time, | | | | choose have the right amount of motions to do the |
| analyzed and then used to create better welding | | | | job well. You may also have to consider having a |
| systems. | | | | backup system of robots in case something goes |
| | | | | wrong. |
| Types of Robots: There are basically two types of | | | | |
| industrial robots: | | | | Although robotics seems to be an interesting and |
| Rectilinear robots move in a boxed shape along three | | | | exciting way to do welding it is something that needs |
| axes. They are the ones that may be most common | | | | to be well researched and organized before going to |
| in looks because they have a "wrist" at the end of | | | | the expense. |