Welding Robot comparisons / reviews 1

[ksume03]

Hello,

I am looking into robotic welders for our shop. We will be welding on mild steel anywhere from 1/8" to 1/2" thick. I have done some research into what is available, looking mainly at panasonic, lincoln, miller, etc. I would like to hear from some people who work with these machines, to get an idea of pros/cons, and what kind of features, both hardware and software I should be looking into. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[aamoroso]

I have programmed and trained welders on Panasonic Robotic Welders. They seem pretty reliable provided your fixtures are reliable. We have learned that Fixturing was our single biggest obstacle in using robotic welding effectively. We have three different Robotic Cells. One has two stations with tables rotating parallel to the ground. One has a single table that rotates perp to the ground with a divider in the middle to give two stations. The third has two stations, one on each side of the robot. The key is having volume to feed it. Our robots sit about 1/3 of the time because we cannot provide enough work to keep them running full time. They do save us money and time without a doubt. The panasonics are pretty user friendly, two of ours are Mig and one is Plasma. We don't do much Mild Steel (wish we did, we do mostly galvanized). The programming requires some good old fashioned hands on experience in moving the robot (6 axis). The main program is a series of boolean expressions and depending on the data entered by the operator certain sub routines run. The weld programs themselves are pretty user friendly, the robots learn the programs from an operator running through the motions and storing teach points for each step.

Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches.

 

[Goahead]

AWS proposes a Certification Program for Robotic Arc Welders. See

http://www.aws.org/w/s/certification/CRAW/

http://www.welding-advisers.com/