ABB Robotics Showcases Broad Range of Automation Technology

As more plants face skilled labor shortages, Technology Days II featured over 40 live demos and seminars that highlighted automotive and general industrial applications for shops of all sizes looking at automation for competitive advantages.

ABB Robotics (Auburn Hills, MI) hosted over 1,000 people at their Technology Days II event on May 15th at their 55,000 sq ft North American headquarters and training center in Auburn Hills that featured a large exhibition floor with over 40 separate live robotic demonstrations from ABB and over a dozen peripheral equipment providers.

Attendees included current and potential customers, value providers, affiliated technology equipment providers, members of the media and, for the late afternoon open house, a fascinated crowd of children, friends and robot enthusiasts of all ages.

Integrated with the live demos were 45 small-group, topic-specific seminars on a variety of robotic subjects to benefit shops that are considering an initial foray into robotic automation, as well as those looking to upgrade or expand their existing robotic lines. These 45-minute long technical seminars covered many of the same subjects being featured on the demo floor, where ABB experts in virtually all industrial applications were on hand to answer questions from attendees touring the facility.

There were presentations and discussions on general applications that included new technologies in integrated vision, robotic safety, machine tending, and simulated programming. The welding and cutting sessions featured fully equipped cells for shops looking to set-up an initial robotic welding operation.

One welding robot of particular interest was the IRB 1520ID with its internal Axis-1 routing of the welding cabling and upper arm integrated dressing that simplify programming and provide optimum protection for welding power and wire, shielding gas and pressurized air.

The integrated dress design allows the 1520ID to work on tighter, more complex fixtures and extends hose life by 50 percent and allows more flexible movements, such as those needed for single-motion welds around cylindrical objects or weld seams on parts of a complex geometry.

The 1.5 m reach, 4 kg payload and second-generation TrueMove™ technology achieve the highest path accuracy in the lightweight arc welding robot class. With reduced maintenance costs and production downtime, this new robot provides round-the-clock welding durability and the lowest cost per weld of any comparable robot. Check out the IRB 1520ID on this video:

The IRB 1520ID also features the easy-to-use FlexPendant HMI. With just a few buttons and an intuitive, multilingual interface, the FlexPendant can be used by operators with minimum training. The power source interface is fully integrated for full control over voltage, current, speed, gas flow, and other welding parameters, all from the same interface as the robot.

There were also technical examinations of advanced laser welding and cutting technology, along with a giant IRB 800 10-axis robot system consisting of a smaller IRB 140 6-axis robot with Fronius twin wire welding equipment attached to the arm of a larger IRB 660 4-axis robot for long reach applications.

Packaging sessions highlighted a three robot palletizing cell with new software for far easier programming, along with three demos using the high speed FlexPicker including the new 8Kg model. Two other demos involved the IRB 120, IRthe smallest 6-axis ABB robot.

Three separate demos on painting ranged from basic to highly sophisticated, displaying systems for paint operations of all sizes, each providing thorough and consistent paint coverage while delivering significant paint savings.

Service and training sessions featured ABB’s full training portfolio, with robotic cells dedicated to training, live remote service demonstrations, and the robot reconditioning program.

Powertrain sessions covered the complete capabilities of robotic automotive Powertrain systems, with escorted tours of selected demonstrations.

The Lighter Side was a 70 in SmartTV attached to the arm of a robot that created a unique viewer experience by bringing virtually unlimited, 6-axis motion to the video media. RoboScreens® first gained prominence in 2010 when a group of large model RoboScreens travelled the globe as main stage props for the Bon Jovi Circle Tour.

The demo floor and seminar schedule was open all day to current and prospective customers so that attendees could gain first hand intelligence while networking with their peers across the full range of industrial robotic applications.

An afternoon open house was held that opened the doors to anyone interested in learning more about robotics, including old and new friends, family, youth organizations and students.

The full demonstration floor remained open with all of the experts on hand, and dinner that evening closed out the day’s events.

ABB Robotics is a leading supplier of industrial robots that also provides robot software, peripheral equipment, modular manufacturing cells and service for tasks such as welding, handling, assembly, painting and finishing, picking, packing, palletizing and machine tending.

Key markets include automotive, plastics, metal fabrication, foundry, electronics, machine tools, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries.

A strong solutions focus helps manufacturers improve productivity, product quality and worker safety. The company has installed more than 200,000 robots worldwide. www.abb.com/robotics