Automatic welding robot offline programming with adaptive automation level

Abstract:
New developments in the field of automatic offline programming (OLP) make it the most effective and fastest solution for an increasing number of tasks with small and medium batch sizes. The optimum, of course, is fully automated, simulation based OLP from CAD data. Such solutions, which work completely without an operator, already exist for some fields of application in several industries. For most welding tasks, however, a fully automatic OLP process is not yet possible, especially if the accessibility of the seams is difficult and multi-axis workpiece positioners are to be controlled synchronously. For this reason, it is now possible to have parts of the OLP performed automatically and to intervene interactively only at certain points in the workflow. Thus, an individual degree of automation of the OLP adapted to the respective task is possible and even demanding welding automation tasks can be programmed offline much quicker and easier. This contribution presents the components of OLP automation and uses application examples from various industries to illustrate the optimal adaptation of the procedure to the degree of difficulty of the task.