LASER ROBOTICS
“The automotive segment pushes to use robotics due to their familiarity with the technology and the favorable price point and greater fl exibility compared to hard automation or custom solutions,” said Doug Hixon, a North Carolina- based robotics application engineer for ABB Robotics’ US unit (Auburn Hills, MI). “Robots are purchased in such large volumes in automotive that the price is attractive if the robot is capable of performing the task.” Lasers and robots are natural partners, according to manufacturers.
“Laser welding and cutting can’t be done by hand,”
Andy Hromadka, project integration manager for Trumpf Inc. (Farmington, CT), a maker of fabricating equipment and industrial lasers, said in an email. “Automation is required in some form and we collaborate with robot manufacturers and robotic systems integrators to implement laser pro- cessing systems.”
Often, the end customer selects which laser system it wants to pair with which robot. “We strive to make a robot that will accept and work with any tool, provided it fi ts within the payload of the robot,” said Daniel Moore, technical sup- port manager for Universal Robots USA Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) “While we do not directly work with any laser company, the path repeatability and point repeatability of the robot is
available to any application, laser or not,” he said. “We also provide a very open architecture, allowing for companies to design their own plugins and software modules to speed up interfacing between the robot and the laser system and allow customization directly on the robot pendant.” Prima Power Laserdyne (Champlin, MN), a maker of laser and sheetmetal machinery, is involved with aerospace, particularly aircraft engines. “What we do, what the machines we build do, is produce holes,” said Terry VanderWert, the company president. “The precision of that hole determines the consistency of the air fl ow.” With more precisely made holes, he said, aircraft engines can have improved air fl ow and lower fuel consumption. “Increasing the precision of the laser-processed feature has enabled new designs and new features,” VanderWert said. “We’re competing against other technologies.” What follows is a look at how different players in the industry approach the market.
Auto Industry Demand “Automotive technology has driven laser applications,”
said FANUC’s Sharpe. “Automotive tends to have deeper pockets than general industrial and quicker programs than, let’s say, aerospace.
A robotic laser application is performed at a General Motors Co. plant. 60
AdvancedManufacturing.org | March 2017
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