ABB'S RobotStudio software enables cost savings in robot-programming

Citation

(2002), "ABB'S RobotStudio software enables cost savings in robot-programming", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2002.04929fad.001

ABB'S RobotStudio software enables cost savings in robot-programming

ABB’S RobotStudio software enables cost savings in robot-programming

Keywords: ABB, Painting, Simulation

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  Programming costs reduced by up to 30 per cent

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  Product introduction times halved

ABB, has developed a robot simulation package to allow manufacturers to achieve off-line programming, on an office PC, without stopping production.

RobotStudio is the first, easy-to-use software for the simulation and true off-line programming of a robot system on a standard windows PC. RobotStudio uses an exact replica of the real ABB robot controller and can generate precise robot programs. The virtual controller uses the same software as that used to control the robot and it generates executable RAPID-programs (see Plate 1).

The benefits of RobotStudio software are being realised by companies large and small and, with its inexpensive price tag, it is proving to be a cost effective way to significantly reduce the time for products to come to market and can reduce costs by up to 30 per cent.

Plate 1 ABB software simulates arc welding

The benefits of RobotStudio are heralded by Ace Precision, Wisconsin, which manufactures turbine burners. The company was charged with the task of producing 280 turbine burners for a government contract specifying a ceramic plasma capable of moderating the temperature of heavy-duty engines. The ceramic plasma had to achieve a coating uniformity of 0.0125 of a centimetre across the burner surface, a coating with more uniformity than a sheet of paper. The plasma sprays at a searing temperature which would weaken the metal alloy of the burner so the robotic system must also allow for air-cooling from 11,000° to 135°. In practice, this means that the robotics system would have to perform a complex robotic dance in which the arm sprays at a consistent angle to the surface while the burner spins on a rotating table at 50 cm/s.

With a deadline of March 2002 set to achieve the new coating specification, Ace Precision were finding it difficult to reach the required standard and had, for months, been trying to do the job by conventional methods of programming and setting the robot’s path with a joystick, the human hand and eye.

As Ken Genac, coating manager for the company states: “We have the state-of-the-art in our ABB robot but the coating still is not the required standard. Right now you have human inaccuracy.”

With no one else in the industry achieving this level of coating uniformity, Ace Precision turned to RobotStudio for the solution believing that its path accuracy and versatility was the perfect answer to a complex question, as Ken Genac comments: “With RobotStudio you can nail it, absolutely. The path accuracy beats anything I have seen before.”

Fuel Tech Sweden which makes auto-parts, also used RobotStudio to program several ABB robots. Max Mortensen, Core Process Manager at the company comments that RobotStudio is extremely precise and easy to work with: “RobotStudio helps me to eliminate mistakes that could jeopardise the arc welding of a fuel tank.” In terms of bringing products to the market, Mortensen estimates RobotStudio to have halved Fuel Tech’s programming time and cut 20-30 per cent off the cost. “We have a large range of uses and it has been a valuable instructional tool for programmers and operators,” says Mortensen. “Operators can watch a 3-D simulation of robot movements, step-by-step, to see if the virtual robot is reaching all positions needed without costly collisions.”

RobotStudio enables customers to evaluate new robotics solutions before the systems are up and running and before any investments are made, which means less risk. Even before the physical equipment is installed, new robotics systems can be configured resulting in shorter time-to-production and increased overall productivity. Plant flexibility is also improved as automation scenarios and production changeovers can be designed, optimised and verified off-line without interrupting production.

ABB UK RobotStudio Product Manager, Jeremy Hadall, comments that the software for the robotics industry has become increasingly competitive and that crucially, RobotStudio has been designed to be both user-friendly and inexpensive: “These days, the competitive edge is in user-friendly software. We felt the key to serving the customer was software to make our robots easier and less expensive to use. Users are already telling us that nothing is more efficient for programming ABB robots than RobotStudio.”

For further information, please contact: David Marshall, ABB, Auriga House, Precedent Drive, Rooksley, Milton Keynes MK13 8PQ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1908 350300; Fax: +44 (0) 1908 350301; E-mail: david.marshall@gb.abb.com