Welding robots primarily consist of two parts: the robot itself and the control cabinet (hardware and software). Welding equipment, such as arc welding and spot welding, includes welding power sources (including their control systems), wire feeders (for arc welding), welding clamps, and so on. For intelligent robots, a sensor system should also be present, such as laser or camera sensors and their control devices.
If the workpiece does not require any position changes throughout the welding process, it can be clamped and positioned on the workbench surface, making the system quite simple. However, in actual production, more workpieces need to be repositioned during welding to ensure the weld seam is in an optimal position (orientation). In such cases, the manipulator and robot can move separately, i.e., the manipulator repositions first, followed by the robot welding; or they can move simultaneously, with the manipulator repositioning while the robot welds, which is commonly referred to as coordinated movement between the manipulator and the robot. At this point, the combined movement of the manipulator and the robot allows for welding...ClampIn relation to the workpiece movement, it can both meet the weld seam path and the welding speed as well as the weldClampAxis requirements. In fact, at this point, the axis of the transposer has become part of the robot. Such a welding robot system can have up to 7-20 axes, or even more.
The control cabinet for robots can coordinate the movement of 12 axes for two robots working together. One is a welding robot, and the other is a handling robot used as a positioner.