With the continuing shortage of skilled workers and the economic recovery, welding equipment suppliers are looking for ways to make it easier for manufacturing workers to weld. Automation is the leading technology among many technologies.

A general rule of thumb states that the productivity of robot welders is three times that of humans, depending on the application. However, Ross Fleischmann, Marketing Manager of the Welding Automation Group at Miller Electric Mfg. LLC in Carol Stream, Illinois, adds, “We have found that improving quality may be more important than productivity in terms of justifying the move towards robotic automation.” Fleischmann even That said, if the application is suitable for automation, you may get another multi-fold return in terms of reducing quality costs. In addition, Fleischmann also referred to information on workplace accidents and injuries from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that automatic welding has a lower accident rate than manual welding.

"Hand welding is an area with a very high degree of repetitive motion damage, which will lead to turnover and related costs," he said. "A statistic released by OSHA shows that any investment in safety will produce a six-to-one return. Therefore, robotic welding is an investment in safety, productivity and quality. Taking all these factors into account, you will get a considerable Return the numbers."

If automation seems appropriate, then the question becomes how to best implement it. Fleischmann observed that even for experienced welders programming, many old robotic systems throughout the industry are relatively intimidating. But now collaborative robot welding is becoming an exciting new way of automation. As Joe Campbell, senior manager of application development at Universal Robots USA Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan, explains, companies such as Hirebotics, Vectis, and THG are combining collaborative robots with Miller and other companies’ welding technologies to create flexible solution.

For Fleischmann, what is important is not the ability of collaborative robots to function in close proximity to people. In fact, these companies entered the market with "a blank sheet of paper" in terms of user interface and programming. "The user interface has more modern tools and technology. Welders can manually move the robot and position it to the physical location on the part during programming. For welders, this is a very intuitive thing. They will not cut Put the torch on the part, press the button and create the program and feel scared."

Campbell said the programming method is different. For example, "Hirebotics believes that the welder will be more comfortable to set up through a smartphone than through any teach pendant. The alternative to Vectis is that the teach pendant provides more focused information with larger graphics and is easier to see." In this way, integrators are based on Universal Robots’ open software architecture, which allows third parties to create specialized applications.

In addition to simple programming, he said that their collaborative robots are also easy to deploy and redeploy because they are light, 120 V, and can be oriented in any way. "You can install the collaborative robot upside down or tilted on the wall. For most traditional robots, because the structure of the bearing and lubrication system is different, different directions require different products."

David Savage, product manager of Miller's welding automation system, praised another aspect of collaborative robot programming. "Some software implemented on these collaborative robots will prompt users to default welding parameters based on the material type and thickness and welding type. We have received a lot of feedback, which is a huge reward for users who may make breakthroughs in welding automation. Savage said that Miller provides similar features on traditional robotic welding machines that use Panasonic power supplies, but he has not seen it on a wider range of products. His explanation is that "the types of users who are interested in collaborative robots are different from car users or high-volume users-such as press shops, where welding may account for 20% or less of their manufacturing process."

Similarly, Savage said, it is difficult to see the benefits of using collaborative robots in traditional welding robot applications. He explained that the lower positioning speed of cobots (their "air movement", if you will) will reduce their productivity. Campbell agreed. "We tell customers that if you want to produce 1 million parts per year and have to produce at high speed, this is not suitable for us. We will never compete with some of the fastest traditional products in speed." But this is how collaborative robot welding exploded. The reason, he continued. "Most markets are not running at ultra-high speeds. Most markets have been running at the speed of collaborative robots and will continue to operate."

"There are approximately 250,000 manufacturing companies in the United States," Campbell continued. “About 90% of these organizations have less than 100 employees. These are small and medium-sized enterprises. They don’t have multimillion-dollar high-speed lines. They may be more mixed and lower-volume companies. They may be a bit batch-oriented. Therefore, there is still a huge market for automation in these areas."

Therefore, ease of programming and versatility are more important factors than speed. "The adoption rate of traditional automation by SMEs is very, very low. This is because the combination of cost, complexity, time and effort required to program, set up and redeploy traditional robots makes it prohibitive." On the contrary, Campbell said: "You can buy a collaborative robot arc welding machine today, equipped with a power supply, a wire feeder, a workbench, and a welding torch, and prepare to weld in a few hours at a price of $85,000. If you can find someone willing to work for you People, that’s less than what you pay a skilled welder."

Campbell observed that many small and medium-sized stores use collaborative robots to make "simpler, larger capacity, and more repetitive parts." This allows them to put more skilled workers on higher-value parts. This is a win-win-win situation because it reduces costs, increases the profit of the shop owner, and makes welders more satisfied. Welders are like artists. They will not be excited about making 1,000 widgets a week. They want to work on a large and complex weldment. "

Campbell also returned to quality issues. Asking one person to make a lot of the same parts all day is an invitation to boring, poor quality and repetitive sports injuries. "More than one shopkeeper told me that at the end of a long shift, you can see a drop in quality."

Although collaborative robots make it easier for more companies to automate welding, there are also significant improvements that simplify the implementation of traditional robots. Savage mentioned Miller DeskTop Programming and Simulation (DTPS), which, like collaborative robots, is particularly helpful for "high-mix, low-volume, and shop-type customers. They can reduce risk in advance. Whether it is quoting the potential work of the robot, or Estimate the potential benefits of automating certain parts of their store or potential customers. They can do all of this work in advance in DTPS. This is very accurate. They can use the tool to make better business decisions, and can shorten the robot Time to discontinue production to launch new products."

For very large and heavy items-whether you need laser hybrid welding, TIG, MIG or gas metal arc welding-look for a company like Pemamek LLC, Mason, Ohio. As explained by the director of North America, Michael Bell, Pemamek has invested 21 years to develop "software that allows welders to become operators." And, in turn, he gained the tools to pass his knowledge to the next generation. It truly enables tribal knowledge to be transferred between older groups to newer groups. Bell explained that if the shop has created a welding procedure specification (WPS), it will save it in the Pemamek software database.

"This will instill confidence in a new generation of people. But suppose you have never seen the Pemamek system or robot welding before you start. We import your existing 3D drawings and convert them into files in the robot programming language. Then you have to do It’s just like playing a video game with the mouse to locate the weld. We use the vision system to carefully check your programming content to make sure these elements exist. Then you press go and it starts welding."

Pemamek's graphical user interface can combine the drawing with the photo overlays scanned by the system, the data points of the program, and the current operation on a single screen. "You can let everything happen at the same time, or if you want, the screen is just a camera." In addition, Pemamek's system includes real-time laser scanning of the welding volume to monitor and control the process. Bell said the system is so good that it can program welding from an office thousands of miles away without requiring field operator input, except to start work. However, Bell explained that the system is limited to larger parts because it is difficult to place the vision device at the end of the robot, and it is also difficult to block it when welding complex parts in a small space.

Fleischmann of Miller Electric said that an important advancement has made manual and robotic welding easier. This is what you might call "adaptive arc technology." He explained that one of the challenges faced by all forms of arc welding is "the task of maintaining proper reach, travel speed, and working angle." Miller provides solutions called Regulated Metal Deposition (RMD), Accu-Pulse, and Versa-Pulse, which help manual welders make welders better by "monitoring stick out and arc, and then performing some complex work on the power source and the power being transmitted." Welding is easy to complete. Therefore, for example, if they miss and one of the angles changes a little, or their reach is changed a little due to a temporary drop in their manual dexterity, it will make it easier for them to perform welding. Welding The process is more compliant and more forgiving.” He added that these techniques are also applicable to robotic welding — not because the robots are inconsistent, but because there may be geometric changes in the workpiece.

Improvements in the visual system and computing power have also made effective training in augmented reality possible. Miller's product is called LiveArc, which covers manual MIG and rod welding. It uses a work flashlight with an LED constellation and is tracked by an overhead camera, so the system can calculate the trainee's working angle, moving angle, distance from the contact tip to work, moving speed and target-even in simulation mode. As Savage explains, “When the student pulls the trigger and pulls the flashlight along the coupon, the system is able to look at the flashlight and calculate all these numbers. It can provide them with real-time feedback on how they travel or push the angle. Then, When students are ready to actually hit the arc, they can turn on the arc, pull the trigger, and now it will track what they are doing when they actually place the beads."

Fleischmann adds that for decades, welders have used sound as a key feedback, and good welding is often compared to the “music” of frying bacon in a pan. "These virtual reality systems are also simulating sound. So when you practice, you can see where the flashlight is, instead of looking at some other indicators. We are providing realistic audio feedback."

Bosch Rexroth Corp. (Bosch Rexroth Corp., Rochester Hills, Mich.. The latest technology makes it easier and easier to combine the highest quality high-speed automated welding, and captures the quality data of each weld during the resistance welding process."

The latest development of Bosch Rexroth in this field is its PRC700 welding controller, Slayton said, "It greatly increases the number of heating blocks available so that welding system programmers and technicians can fully customize the current waveform of each welding. Through the user Friendly programming tools, each weld can be configured to deal with the specific conditions of each weld as much or as little current and time as possible."

He added: “PRC7000 has more advanced adaptive welding functions [than the previous generation], allowing faster real-time processing to ensure that the physical weld seam more closely represents the desired welding curve. This greatly improves the welding quality and As aluminum is used more and more widely in the industry, this is becoming a very important feature for our customers."