Vectis Automation has chosen Universal Robots' UR10e collaborative robot (cobot) to power the Vectis Cobot Welding Tool, giving smaller weld shops a low-risk, easy solution to increase weld capacity, quality and stability.
"Vectis is Latin for leverage, leverage now extended to manufacturers seeking a low-risk, low-cost, easy-to-use answer to increase welding productivity amid the ongoing shortage of skilled labor," said a Vectis spokesperson.
"The Vectis Cobot Welding Tool helps manufacturers boost productivity by reducing the learning curve, deployment time, risk and cost of robotic welding," continued the spokesperson. "Powered by Universal Robots' UR10e cobot, the Vectis Cobot Welding Tool is a portable, safe, versatile and easy-to-use solution that is even available as a low-risk, no-capital rent-to-own option."
"We saw Universal Robots prevail as the undisputed leader in the cobot market, lowering automation barriers through ease of use and fast deployment," said Josh Pawley, Director of Business Development and co-founder of Vectis Automation, which has joined Universal Robots' growing network of Certified System Integrators. "We wanted to build our cobot welder on this platform, providing the same user experience to welders that manufacturers in many other industry verticals now enjoy. The Vectis Cobot Welder is commonly 25-40% less expensive than the all-in cost of a small traditional robot welder."
Users of the Vectis Cobot Welding Tool are typically set up entirely by the customer within a few hours of system arrival and welding within 10 minutes of set-up-with no programming experience necessary. Vectis' Let's Weld Together intuitive programming interface is accessible directly through the UR cobot's own teach pendant. Programs can be created, saved and later recalled in order to handle the numerous part numbers typical for high mix/low volume shops. The cobot welder can weld thick and thin parts, and the Vectis Weaving Software allows manufacturers to set weave parameters for cleanly tied-in welds with a Weld Template Library that provides parameter starting points for common weld sizes, such as one-click tack welds, square tubes with tight-radii corners, round tubes and multi-segment paths.
"We are delighted to be selected as the cobot of choice by a welding company with founders having more than 60 years of welding automation experience under the hood," said Stu Shepherd, Regional Sales Director of Universal Robots' North America division. "Vectis' solution meets the ongoing welding requests we receive from customers."
The Vectis system comes with all hardware provided fully integrated onto a 3' x 6' mobile modular fixturing cart, enabling metal fabricators to bring the cobot to the work or the work to the cobot with no anchoring nor dedicated footprint required. The Vectis Cobot Welding Tool does not need three-phase power but runs off a 120V wall outlet. The welder can run on anything between 208V and 575V, including 240V single phase.
The cobot welder includes:
- UR10e 6-axis collaborative robot with 51" of reach
- Intuitive programming on Universal Robots' 12" touchscreen pendant with Vectis' Let's Weld Together intuitive programming interface
- Air-cooled welding torch
- Rhino Cart by Strong Hand Tools. Includes 66 pcs of modular fixturing. Mobile worktable measures 30" x 48"
- Miller 20 Series digital wire feeder
- Freedrive jog enable button, which allows the programmer to teach the robot by physically moving the robot to program points
- Miller Invision 352 MPa MIG welder, which includes pulsed MIG waveforms and weld parameters controlled by the cobot
- Embedded safety allows the cobot to safely work alongside humans without permanent barriers
- 30-day return policy and rent-to-own program
- Free application evaluations: A key part of the Vectis process is collaboratively reviewing applications to provide insight on application viability and how to achieve success in production. The company also offers suggestions on any upstream fabrication issues and/or how it could be redesigned to make it more automation friendly.
- Lifetime technical support
- LTL freight: "Most traditional systems require a costly dedicated air-ride semi," said a company spokesperson.
- Flexibility: During production gaps in the weld shop, the cobot arm can be repurposed to perform other tasks.
For more information contact:
Universal Robots USA
5430 Data Court, Suite 300
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
844-462-6268
ur.na@universal-robots.com
www.universal-robots.com
Vectis Automation
Fort Collins, CO 80525
connect@VectisAutomation.com
www.vectisautomation.com