Arc Welding RobotDuring the short time that industrial welding robots have been in
use, the
jointed arm or revolute type has become by far the most popular. For welding it
has almost entirely replaced the other types except for the Cartesian, see (robot
kinematics), which is
used for very large and very small robots. The reason for the popularity of the
jointed arm type is that it allows the welding torch to be manipulated in almost
the same fashion as a human being would manipulate it. The torch angle and
travel angle can be changed to make good quality welds in all positions. Jointed
arm robots also allow the arc to weld in areas that are difficult to reach. Even
so, a robot cannot provide the same manipulative motion as a human being,
although it can come extremely close. In addition, jointed arm robots are the
most compact and provide the largest work envelope relative to their size.Usually
arc welding robots have five or six free programmable arms or axes.
Off-the-shelf programmable robot arms are today available from different suppliers such as ABB, FANUC, PANASONIC, KUKA, MOTOMAN.
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