LASER ROBOTICS


A laser cutting operation is performed using an ABB robot. Marriage of Convenience


As both robots and lasers improve their capabilities, they prove to be even better partners in more applications


Bill Koenig Senior Editor


L


asers and robots have long worked together. Robots (and other automation) commonly serve to guide lasers in weld- ing, marking and other processes. Robotic laser systems are familiar sights in the automotive industry, where over time both sides of the partnership have seen their accuracy and productivity improve, thanks in no small part to ever more sophisticated software. As a result, laser robotic systems are seeing wider use in other industries, including aerospace. “The biggest driver in laser applications recently has been the cost performance,” said Mike Sharpe, staff engineer in the mate- rials joining group of FANUC America Corp. (Rochester Hills, MI). “Fiber lasers…all those types of one-micron wavelength lasers


are solid state in nature and that’s really driven the cost down and improved the efficiency of the lasers,” Sharpe said. “Mul- tikilowatt lasers now become more mainstay because they’re affordable—affordable to operate versus CO2


and other methods


of lasing and they’re easy to manage because of the fiber deliv- ery, which lends itself to robotics.”


March 2017 | AdvancedManufacturing.org 59


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