To “integrate a robot†means to interface the robot with a manufacturing process or peripheral device, creating a single system with seamless operation. In essence, integration automates the robot to the customer’s process. Integrators must develop end-of-arm tooling for the robot, work with PLC’s and relays, wire the system together, install safety devices, and program the robot to do the needed task.
Robotic Integration Steps:
1. Evaluate the customer’s needs and develop a concept of how the robot will perform the application.
2. Create drawings or prototypes to test the process.
3. Design and construct end-of-arm tooling for the robot.
4. Install the system in the customer’s manufacturing facility and program it to work with existing machines or manufacturing processes.
Examples of Robotic Integration Include:
• Pick and Place: The robot works with a conveyor system to pick up a product and palletize or box it.
• Welding: The robot is fitted with a torch for mig, tig, or other welding, and is integrated to a weld power supply and wire feeder. The part fixture is adapted to A/B tables, head and tail stocks, and tilt/rotate positioners for adequate weld positioning.
• Routing: The robot is fitted with an end-of-arm high speed spindle with a router to cut materials such as fiberglass. A variable-frequency drive is interfaced to the robot to control the router/spindle speed.
Other Robotic Definitions:
Interface: the place at which independent and often unrelated systems meet and act on or communicate with each other. (Meridian-Webster)
Integrate: to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole. (Meridian-Webster)
Types of Robotic Welding
What is MIG Welding? MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas welding, also called Wire-feed. Mig is also referred as GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding). The “Metal” refers to the wire used to start the arc. It is shielded by inert gas. The feeding wire also acts as the filler rod. MIG is a semi-automatic process, and fairly easy to learn and use.
What is TIG Welding? TIG stands for Tungsten Inert Gas welding, also called GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding) and Heliarc® which was Linde’s trade name for the TIG process when it was introduced many years ago. The arc is started with a tungsten electrode, shielded by inert gas. The filler rod is fed into the weld puddle separately. A slower process than MIG, it produces a more precise weld and can be used at lower amperages for thinner metal and can be used on exotic metals. TIG does require quite a bit more time than MIG to learn. It is similar in technique to gas welding.
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Last step for integrating robotic by End-of-Arm-Tooling components like vacuum cups, nipples, connectors, frame profiles, gate cutters and etc.
Normally, we focused on robot or robot arm and easily to forget end-of-arm-tooling things. These are kind of stuff we can find from ACY corporation. Their stuff are all fit any kind of brand of robots like Star, Yushin, Harmo, ABB and etc. We can visit website “www.acy.com.tw” for more detail information.
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