ROBOTICS As robots, lasers improve their capabilities, they join forces in more applications
Song of established duo gets sweeter with time
Bill Koenig Senior Editor
C 50
ost performance is the “big- gest driver in laser applica- tions,” Mike Sharpe, staff engineer in the materials join- ing group of FANUC America Corp., said. “Fiber lasers…
all those types of one-micron wavelength lasers are solid state in nature and that’s re- ally driven the cost down and improved the efficiency of the lasers. Multi-kilowatt 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 delivery, which lends itself to robotics.” The automotive segment in particular pushes the use of robotics “due to their familiarity with the technology and the favorable price point and greater flexibility compared to hard automation or custom solutions,” Doug Hixon, a North Carolina- based robotics application engineer for ABB Robotics’ US unit, said. “Robots are purchased in such large volumes in automo- tive that the price is attractive if the robot is capable of performing the task.” Lasers and robots are natural partners,
according to manufacturers. And because of their tenure in two important aspects of the current revolution in making, they serve as two grandes dames in smart manufacturing. The pair has long worked together. Ro- bots and other automation guide lasers for welding, marking and other processes. Both sides of the partnership have gotten better,
improving accuracy for starters. Software has become more sophisticated. And as a result, laser robotic systems
are seeing more applications, including aerospace. “Laser processing can’t be done manu-
ally,” said Andy Hromadka, project integration manager for Trumpf Inc., a maker of fabricat- ing equipment and industrial lasers. “Automa- tion is required in some form. Our collabora- tion with the robot manufacturers is typically as colleagues in industry. We are both manu- facturers of enabling technologies.” Often, the end customer selects which la-
ser system it wants to pair with which robot. “We strive to make a robot that will ac-
cept and work with any tool, provided it fits within the payload of the robot,” said Daniel Moore, technical support manager for Uni- versal Robots USA Inc.
Robotic laser devices are sometimes being used for cutting.
March 2017
Photo courtesy ABB
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