WELDING ROBOT

[imaz]

HI EVRYONE. THAK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE.
WE ARE LOOKING AT WELDING MOLDBOARDS FOR A SNOW PLOWS USING A ROBOT. THE WEIGHT OF THE PARTS VARIES BETWEEN 200 LBS TO 300LBS.AT THIS TIME WE HAVE LOOKED AT LINCOLN ELECTRIC THAT USES FANUC ROBOTS. WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT IGM.THA PARTS DIMENSIONS ARE 7.5'-10' LONG AND 30"-35" WIDE.
THE QUESTIONS WE HAVE ARE:
-RELIABILITY
-SERVICE
-PRICES VARIES BETWEEN 160K TO 240K
-REPEATABILITY
-LONGEVITY
OF THESE ROBOTS.ARE THERE ANY OTHER ROBOTS WE NEED TO CONSIDER?
WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE FIRST DRY RUN THIS WEEK, WHAT SHALL PAYING ATTENTION TO BESIDES THE QUALITY OF THE WELDS AND THE TIME.

THANK YOU.

MANUF. ENG

 

[ChadInColo]

Are you just welding with the robot, or picking and placing parts?

I would look at the ABB robots, we just purchased one from Wolf Automation and have been very happy so far. Can't say much about reliability or service issues since it is just up and running now, but I know that the ABB robots go into a lot of auto plants and all the Caterpillar plants use ABB from Wolf.

As far as cost, we had Fanuc quote a comparable robot, price was 20-25% higher, with a less-than comparable powersource for our needs.

 

[Milkboy]

For your Info

I have been with a company now for 2 months
so I dont know a great deal about the ABB Welder

It has been installed since Aug 03 and we have not
had a full weeks production out of it yet
Break downs, colitions, not going back to centre,
welding 1/30 incorrectly for no reason (12mm out of position)

The Prod. Eng. is constantly on the phone to ABB
and they send Engs and Experts.

At one point it was theorised we have a 'rogue robot' !!

HTH

-
Milkboy

 

[Barry1961]

I have installed many welding robots and think that whatever you buy will be repeatable enough for welding. If this is your first robot your big problem will be making the material repeatable. Getting quality control to a level where you can use a "blind" welding robot is something to be proud of and takes a lot of hard work. Unless you are able to use TAST or something like it I think you are in for a learning experience. Also the wire usally whips much more than the path varies even if it is the no cast type. The best advice I can give would be to find a vendor that has good support near you.

Barry1961

 

[ubrales]

Because of the weight of the parts involved, I would choose a gantry type of robot or a robot installed upside down. What is equally important is a well designed fixture. Put these things together in the form of a well written set of specifications clearly outlining the tolerances before and after, deliverables, timeframe, project teams, etc. and then contact a reputable supplier. Also address rework issues because 100% good parts is unattainable. I had good performance from a company called Banner Welder in Germantown, Wisconsin on a difficult welding project (WPG) that involved automation.

Hope this helps.

 

[vahanyan]

There is ABB
There is Motoman
There is Staubli

 

[gu1970]

Hello
You can look for the better robot system but if you dont´t put attention on the fixtures I think you get many problems. I work with two old ABB IRB 1400 Robot´s with an external axe and we take good seams. Of course not all 100%. The parts also must be a rigth drawing to be weld by robot systems.
Our fixtures have 450 Kg so the mass is not a problem if you have a rigtn axe to move that.

 

[28021973]

I used to work for igm robotic systems, I also have a lot of experience of working with abb, fanuc, panasonic, comau.
If you want a large welding robot system as a complete turnkey package and you want that special individual support then igm is the right choice to make.

Be aware welding robots are not like a machining centre, there are a lot of things that can make the system get itself a bad name.

If its your first ever cell, stay clear of tandem wire welding or high speed welding unless you have excellent welding engineers who know what there doing and not say what there doing.

I must also point out that fanuc robots are extremely reliable, but the individuality from them is somewhat to be desired.

Take a look at there backgrounds, what do you want a mig welding robot?

They all make robots they all can mig weld, but who specialises in mig welding, not all of them. The bigger names i.e. abb, comau, fanuc are really only interested in selling to auto industry, your a one off job, think of the support.

 

[jlhmaint]

Place i work at has
OTC Dihan robots
Panasonic robots
Motoman
Fanuc
Lincoln.
They all have there issues, key like stated before is fixtures, also consider the following: how hard are they to teach and reteach positions this will or may be alot of your downtime. How hard are they to work on for your maint staff will there be good vendor support. How long of a lead time on service parts to get you up and running agian. duty cycles. Alot of our down time comes from the operators having to retach weld spots and points. You will diffinitly need a repair table of sorts because you will have to touch up some welds. Don't forget proper saftey training and devices as these big robots will kill you. I have seen them knock a 250lb plus guy across the floor.

 

[rdl23]

Take a look at

http://www.roboticsonline.com

for more information about the various robot companies. You can post this question in their "ask the experts" section.

 

[grigorius]

Dear jlhmaint,

I couldnt help but reading your post and wondering why a maint table is required. Are you having problems with the quality of the weld?

I have only had a little experience with robotic welders so I'm unsure of the norm of operation. I'm aware that, depending on the grade, there must be pre and post work done to the weld piece before welding but from what I've seen, things are becoming more automatic everyday.

Grigorius

 

[antonmalta]

Another high tech robot that was not mentioned is KUKA.
KUKA also offers the complete range of robots for other processes that you might want to research after you kick the welding prject off.