Robot controls digital welding power source

Robot and welding machine controls are integrated in a single 64 bit control system and ensures that the main robot controller processor completely controls the digital welding power source.

Panasonic Fusion Technology incorporates robot and welding machine controls integrated in a single 64 bit control system.

This arrangement allows the robot controller to directly check the welding arc and ensures that the main processor of the robot controller takes over complete control of the digital welding power source.

Thanks to this breakthrough in technology both performance and quality control have been significantly improved, said Panasonic.

The company told manufacturingtalk.com that 'Fusion technology' ensures communication speeds 250 times faster than the previous 'classic' interfaces, providing a much quicker reaction to the information from the welding arc and allowing true 'closed loop' welding control.

Some of the advanced features available for arc welding applications are as follows.

* With the newly developed welding processes such as Hyper Dip Pulse and SP-MAG the advantages of dip transfer and pulse-arc welding can be combined reducing spatter and increasing arc stability.

* Software based conversion to the Tawers TIG process - the cold wire feed system uses the same wire feed unit of the Hyper Dip Pulse and SP-MAG welding.

* Quicker robot arm accelerations and motion speeds of 180m/min.

* Complete electronic control of the welding arc allows switching between processes and welding extremes without interruption, widening the process window and flexibility of the digital inverter.

* Auto-extension control uses software control to maintain a constant stick-out length during welding.

This is particularly useful when welding thin sheet material where constant heat input must be guaranteed to eradicate poor fusion or burn through.

* Lift-start and lift-end functions provide a more stable start to the welding arc, dramatically reducing welding spatter.

The robot can instantaneously lift the torch upon the first contact between the welding wire and material to generate a repeatable stable arc start.

The same process is also applied at the end of the welding seam in order to 'dress' the welding wire sharply and consistently for the next weld start.

* Sensitive collision detection ensures that any unexpected external force on a robot arm is immediately fed back to the control system switching the robot arm to a "soft-servo" state preventing damage to the welding torch, robot arm, welding fixture and so on.

* Welding Quality Management Function provides a true 'Embedded ARC Monitor' system - this function ensures stringent monitoring of a range of parameter features.

This data can self monitor the weld process in real time and provide traceability via weld data recording and management.

* Panasonic Industrial Europe at MACH 2008, NEC, Birmingham, UK April 21-25, Hall 4, Stand 4792.

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