Robotic Laser Welding and Cutting Meets Demands for High Accuracy

The compact IRB 2400 from ABB Robotics (Auburn Hills, MI) is a dedicated high performance robot for process applications where the required accuracies are very demanding. It offers inverted mounting capability and easy installation, with robust construction and use of minimum parts that contribute to high reliability and long intervals between maintenance. ABB technology for laser welding and cutting defines world-class motion control and path performance, and comes with offline programming capabilities and tools for automatic TCP calibration, work objects and positioner base frames. Pre-engineered systems from are available in configurations designed to match various part sizes, geometries and production volumes. For example, the IRB 2400 can be equipped with a LaserMech FiberCUT® Straight (ST) laser cutting head and a TRUMPF laser PFOi head, showing the capability of the robot to be equipped for both laser welding and laser cutting with a wide range of laser power equipment.

Engineered for the harsh factory floor environment, the complete system of the FiberCUT Straight (ST) laser processing head from Laser Mechanisms, Inc. (Novi, MI) consists of a cutting head, fiber collimator and linear drive with position measuring that works with all leading fiber-delivered laser ­systems up to 4 kW. The head collimates and focuses a fiber-delivered laser beam and directs it along with cutting gas through its nozzle for optimal 3D metal cutting with a fiber-coupled laser for 16 kg robots. The ­nozzle also senses the required tip standoff from the workpiece and automatically maintains that distance through its internal cam-operated Z-axis drive system with axial crash protection. A cartridge-style drawer provides quick and easy access to the head’s cover glass, which protects the cutting lens from process debris. All wiring and assist gas lines are internally plumbed to avoid costly snags and breaks.

Other features include:

• Low moving mass minimizes inertia transfer to robot support arm.
• Internal, low-noise height sensing system is insensitive to cutting plasma or piercing debris.
• Z lens focus-to-tip adjustment.
• Provides error signals in case of collision, over-temperature and exceeding the operating range.
• Sealed beam path.

The programmable focusing optics in the PFOi head from TRUMPF Inc. (Farmington, CT) are ideal for remote processing, providing the long focal length, excellent dynamics and precision that is especially well-suited for quick and reliable processing of large workpieces in every application, ranging from low power to the high power. State-of-the-art, digitally-controlled drives ensure a fast pace with high precision. Robot, laser, and programmable focusing optics are synchronized and positioned precisely in real-time for welding on the fly. PFO positions the laser beam within the processing field using two mirrors that change direction in a very precise and highly dynamic way. In conjunction with pulsed or continuous wave solid-state lasers, they weld points and seams without the need to move the workpiece or the focusing optics. The plane field lens match the focusing conditions identical with the processing quality at every point in the processing field.

Optional intelligent sensors can increase process reliability and quality in the PFOi head. Its programmable focusing optics can be expanded through optional image processing that can detect geometries on the surface of the workpiece and adapt the laser process to the individual processing situation.

ABB Robotics, 1250 Brown Road, Auburn Hills, MI 48326, 248-391-9000, www.new.abb.com/products/robotics.