Nov 5 2009
Automatic Welding Solution for Small Batches Now Allows for Laser Seam Finding and Tracking for More Precise and Efficient Robotic Welding
SmartTCP, a leading supplier of automatic welding solutions for small batch production, today announced it now offers the SmartTCP welding solution with laser seam tracking capability. The company will be demonstrating the newly enhanced SmartTCP solution at the FABTECH 2009 show booth #34065 November 15-18 in Chicago, Illinois. The new product offering consists of hardware and software that includes off-the-shelf components, easy-to-use programming and integrated laser seam tracking. SmartTCP has customized a laser vision system from Meta Vision of the UK, and integrated it into its automatic offline programming software for small batch production.
“Many small batch fabricators produce parts made of thinner material that distorts during welding and with joint requirements such as corner-to-corner or butt joint welding that are not best served by “through-the-arc” seam tracking systems. So in order to enhance our robotic solution to accommodate most joint types and material thicknesses while maintaining the system’s high standard of welding reliability and precision, we integrated a laser vision system into the SmartTCP solution,” said Efi Lebel, founder and CEO of SmartTCP. “By integrating laser vision technology into the SmartTCP solution, manufacturers now have a hybrid way of seam searching and tracking, that is touch sensing and through-the-arc as well as laser vision. This allows for an efficient automatic way to weld an even greater variety of small batch fabrications and thereby increase production, reliability and quality.”
“SmartTCP recognized early on that the challenges of robotic welding could be overcome by making sure that the robot path is executed correctly relative to the part itself and that welding process parameters are adapted each time according to the actual weld joint conditions,” added Helder Soares, general manager for Meta Vision Systems Inc. “A key attribute in adding laser vision is that the actual parts to be welded are sensed in real time as part of the process which helps accommodate a wide variation in part positioning.”
The new SmartTCP offering with the laser vision system for accurate weld seam finding and tracking adjusts the weld path to the actual path of the joint. This new capability is very precise and efficiently welds these types of joints as well as thinner materials such as stainless steel or aluminum. The laser seam tracking capability was integrated into SmartTCP’s automatic offline programming software for small batch production to provide accurate automatic control of the position of the welding robot without the need for operator intervention or welding interruption. SmartTCP also customized the laser seam tracking technology to work on stitch welds as well as a weld process that requires the robot to oscillate in a weave pattern. The welding system allows fabricators to produce a variety of parts more quickly without additional employees and in the same amount of production space. These benefits, coupled with the increased quality and reliability of robotic welding over manual welding, will give manufacturers an additional competitive advantage within their industry. Continuous, in position welding makes it possible to have full pen welds on first pass and eliminates the potential for cracks that start and stop welding can create.