ABB robot promises precise laser welding for chemical vessel production
Summary
Because laser welding presents a risk of eye injury to human workers, a fully enclosed automated solution was required. Fitting the robot to an ABB IRBT motion system effectively gave it a seventh axis, allowing it to run down the length of the component to produce an accurate weld. With a simple design, the track solution offers best in class path accuracy and a position-to-position time of less than 3.4 seconds for a four-meter length. RobotStudio also eliminated much of the risk involved in developing the application, as it avoids the need to reengineer the project if problems are discovered during the commissioning stage. This is then unloaded, sent to a pressing section for formation into components and then reloaded into the enclosure on the other set of fixtures for final welding into the complete product.