Robotics in today’s automotive manufacturing
Classic robot uses in automotive manufacturing Classic robotic applications in automotive manufacturing facilities include welding, painting, assembly, and (for the transport of the 30,000-odd parts that go into the average car) material-handling tasks. Consider how some robot subtypes are put to use in these applications. Six-axis articulated arm robots are serial manipulators in which every joint is a revolute joint. The most common configuration is the six-axis robot having degrees of freedom to position objects in any position and orientation within its working volume. These are very flexible robots suited to myriad industrial processes. In fact, six- axis articulated arm robots are what most people picture when thinking of an industrial robot. In fact, large six-axis robots are often used in automobile frame welding and spot welding of body panels. In contrast with manual approaches, robots have the ability to precisely trace weld paths in 3D space without stopping while concurrently accommodating the changing parameters of the weld bead in response to environmental conditions.
Figure 4: High-performance barcode readers can quickly and reliably decode 1D and 2D barcodes. Some mount on robotic end effectors to support part picking of electronic and automotive parts as well as subassembly elements. (Image source: Omron Automation and Safety)
Figure 5: These six-axis robots are what most people picture when imagining an industrial robot. (Image source: Kuka)
36
Powered by FlippingBook