Welding robots mainly consist of two parts: the robot itself and the control cabinet (hardware and software). Welding equipment, such as arc welding and spot welding, is composed of welding power sources (including their control systems), wire feeders (for arc welding), welding clamps, and so on. For intelligent robots, a sensing system should also be included, such as laser or camera sensors and their control devices.
If the workpiece does not require positioning during the entire welding process, it can be clamped to the workbench surface. This system is as simple as it gets. However, in actual production, more workpieces need to be repositioned during welding to ensure the weld seam is in a favorable position (pose). In such cases, the manipulator and robot can move separately, meaning 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 enables the weldClampIn relation to the workpiece movement, it can meet both the weld path and the welding speed requirements.ClampAxis requirements. In fact, at this point, the axis of the transposer has become part of the robot. This welding robot system can have up to 7-20 axes, or more.
The new robot control cabinet 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.