World's fastest arc welding robots

Citation

(2008), "World's fastest arc welding robots", Industrial Robot, Vol. 35 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2008.04935bad.003

World's fastest arc welding robots

World's fastest arc welding robots

Two new six-axes industrial robots for arc welding, claimed to be the fastest on the market, have been introduced by Motoman Robotics (UK), Banbury.

The latest all-electric models, called Super Speed SSA2000 and SSF2000 (Figure 2), are 40 per cent faster than previous robots owing to advanced motion control of the axis movements. The resulting 15 per cent reduction in weld cycle times significantly raises productivity. Weld cycles are speeded further by minimising arc on/off time.

Figure 2 The two new Motoman Super Speed arc welding robots, SSA2000 (left) and SSF2000 (right)

The SSA2000, with a 3kg payload, has the same upper arm as the Motoman EA1400N Expert Arc Robot. Welding cables are integrated and the torch is mounted in-line with the welding axis, which eliminates cable interference, reduces cable wear and simplifies programming. The SSA2000 is ideal for multiple-unit installations where two or more robots interact closely, and for applications involving areas that are difficult to reach or where there is a risk of interference from fixtures.

The SSF2000 robot, with a 6kg payload, is similar to Motoman's HP6 model and is designed for arc welding with traditional external cabling and handling. It can be used with vision sensors and with torches that have integrated wire feed.

Both of the new welding robots, which have a reach of nearly 1.4m and a repeatability of ^0.08mm, are controlled by Motoman's NX100 controller, featuring a robust PC architecture, Windows CE programming pendant, and easy-to-use Inform III programming language.

For further details, please visit: www.motoman.co.uk