"Small job shops struggling with the budget, programming and space requirements of traditional welding robots now have an alternative solution. The new SnapWeld Collaborative Robot Welding package developed by ARC Specialties Inc. and Universal Robots is a cobot-assisted, interactive welding system that can be deployed easily and flexibly in existing manual welding booths, eliminating the need for costly new robotic cells," said a company spokesperson.
"We are getting a lot of requests for integrating Universal Robots in welding booths, so we saw this as a unique opportunity to develop an integrated low-cost system for gas metal arc welding (GMAW) applications that no one else in the market is currently offering," said John Martin, Vice President of ARC Specialties, a Certified Systems Integrator of UR robots.
The SnapWeld was demonstrated at FABTECH, where attendees could simply grab the UR10 robot arm and perform stitch welding by "teaching" the robot the start and stop points, as well as the number and length of the stitch weld. The SnapWeld would move along the start and stop path and weld only during specified stitch areas, reducing robotic programming from hours to minutes.
The welding system integrated with the UR robot is comprised of a Profax wire feeder and water cooled torch enabling welds up to 600 amps, with torch bracket, all cables and hose packages included. The simplified programming is enabled by direct software integration into Universal Robots' own programming environment through the Universal Robots+ platform that allows users to program advanced settings directly on the teach pendant that comes with the UR robot. Settings include features such as wire feed speed and burn back time, gas flow time and crater fill time with instant feedback on welding volts and amps.
Area Sales Manager of Universal Robots, Manuel Sordo, said, "This UR+ welding package is the perfect solution for low volume/high mix fabrication shops, allowing operators to manage robot programs and welding parameters on the fly."
Also at Universal Robots FABTECH booth, showcased alongside SnapWeld, was READY Robotics' TaskMate system, a fully-integrated turn-key solution for machine tending that incorporates the UR robots. The company exhibited a TaskMate R5, utilizing a UR5 arm demonstrating flexibility of the system through a series of dynamic interactive demonstrations. "READY Robotics is working to change the way customers approach robotic automation by providing a fully plug & play platform architecture allowing customers to easily build whatever automation system they need for a given application," said Ben Gibbs, CEO of READY Robotics. "By integrating with Universal Robots, we are able to leverage tremendously useful robot hardware to further reduce the integration overhead customers and integrators experience in trying to address their automation application needs."
For more information contact:
Universal Robots USA
5430 Data Court, Suite 300
Ann Arbor, MI
844-462-6268
ur.na@universal-robots.com
www.universal-robots.com