Keywords
Citation
(1999), "Latest version of ArcTool features 'Plug and Play'", Industrial Robot, Vol. 26 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.1999.04926bad.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Latest version of ArcTool features 'Plug and Play'
Latest version of ArcTool features "Plug & Play"
Keywords Robots, Welding
ArcTool, the user-friendly software interface that sits between the general purpose control system for a Fanuc robot and the weld operator contains some significant enhancements in the latest A.3 version.
ArcTool was originally conceived so that a weld operator could "talk" to the robot in the everyday language of welding, not a specialised robot programming language. It is one of a series of "Tools" that embrace other application areas such as spot welding, palletising and paint spraying.
Among the new facilities for ArcTool is "Plug & Play" for the Lincoln range of welding power supplies. These use customised user screens with welding 1/0 and weld schedules. By simply selecting the specific power supply unit, during robot setup all the appropriate parameters are set. Setting time is reduced by 90 per cent.
Another new feature is high speed wrist weaving with a weave frequency up to 18Hz and an amplitude of 5mm. This can bridge small gaps in the weld joint and eliminate any limitations in high speed feed rates. In practice the posture on the main axes is maintained and all the high frequency weaving generated at the wrist axes.
Error recovery procedures that promise to increase productivity by reducing scrap and re-work have also been added. This completes a weld after a fault has been detected and rectified by going back to the point in the program where the error occurred. Used in conjunction with Collision Guard and High Speed Touch Sensing, these enhancements promise to translate into practical benefits on the shopfloor.
Contact: Maurice Hanley, FANUC Robotics (UK) Limited, Seven Stars Industrial Estate, Wheler Road, Coventry, CV3 4LB. Tel: +44 (0)1203 639669; Fax: +44 (0)1203 304333.