Fronius offers smart welding assistance systems with robots

Welding Quality Enhancer Fronius offers smart welding assistance systems with robots

2024-10-08 Source: Fronius | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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Save time and money! Wiresense, Touchsense, Seamtracking, and lastly Teachmode are the names of patented assistance systems for more carefree robotic welding from Fronius.

Always stay on top of your welding wire! This is ensured by a range of smart assistance systems for robotic welding developed by Fronius. Learn about the benefits of turning the welding wire into a sensor, as done here...(Image: Fronius) — Always stay on top of your welding wire! This is ensured by a range of smart assistance systems for robotic welding developed by Fronius. Learn about the benefits of turning the welding wire into a sensor, as done here...
(Image: Fronius)

Despite highly advanced robotic technology and nearly perfect interlocking systems, inaccuracies and deviations still occur in industrial welding production, as Fronius reports. Even minimal material differences or inaccurate clamping devices can significantly negatively affect the welding results. This often leads to costly rework, expensive part failures, or significant losses in cycle time. To avoid time-consuming manual adjustments when readjusting welding aides, optical measuring aids are often used. However, these have the disadvantage that laser and camera systems are expensive to purchase and maintain and take up considerable space, as Fronius explains. This consequently limits the accessibility to the component that needs welding. To address these issues, Fronius has developed alternatives and offers high-tech systems for the "intelligent" welding systems i-Wave, TPS/i, and TPS/i Twin, which do not require cameras or manual readjustment. Here, the welding technology specialists explain how this is achieved...

Weld well despite component and clamping system tolerances

The Touchsense assistance system was specifically developed for fillet welds. Prior to each welding operation, the robot automatically touches the sheets to be joined at the beginning and the end of the weld seam. It doesn’t matter whether the touch is triggered by the wire electrode or the gas nozzle. The signal is always clearly assigned and correctly transferred, as Fronius emphasizes for this assistance system. During contact, the low sensor voltage creates a short circuit that enables the robot to precisely determine the seam position and then dynamically adjust the welding parameters. Additionally, the system is very helpful because it immediately warns if a spatter bridge should form between the contact tube and the gas nozzle. This allows for timely cleaning of the spot, increasing precision and quality in manufacturing.

Gallery

No matter what comes, with the assistance systems Wiresense, Touchsense, Seamtracking, and Teachmode from Fronius, one can always hit the right parameters for ideal robotic welding seams, as they say.(Image: Fronius)

Here we see the Robacta Drive CMT drive unit from Fronius, which is emphasized as being highly dynamic and precise. During wire movement, it successfully scans components with the welding wire, bringing us back to the topic of "the welding wire as a sensor."(Image: Fronius)

React correctly every time with "intelligent" support! Wiresense from Fronius can also detect gaps in overlap seams. The robot then automatically performs the appropriate welding jobs, provided these have been predefined.(Image: Fronius)

Teaching is about 30 percent faster with the Fronius Teachmode feature because the reversing wire movement prevents the wire from bending when touching the component. This saves the user from having to cut off the bent wire and from having to remeasure the stickout.(Image: Fronius)

When the welding wire becomes a sensor...

Regarding the Wiresense assistance system, Fronius highlights its simplicity. The highly sensitive and dynamic CMT (Cold Metal Transfer) drive has been enhanced with special control software. This modification turns the welding wire virtually into a sensor that can directly detect contours or gap deviations on the component. To ensure precise control of the welding wire, the Fronius welding system only needs to be equipped with a CMT-Ready system. The actual welding process, CMT (Cold Metal Transfer), is not necessary for this functionality.

In the Wiresense system, the wire electrode also functions as a height sensor. For example, in overlap welds, gaps can be detected based on the precisely measured sheet edge height. For optimal welding results, it is possible to precisely define in advance which jobs stored in the Fronius welding system should be accessed for different gap dimensions. This allows the robot to always respond correctly and perform the welding with parameters that suit the specific gap size.

A brief side note on the CMT-Ready system:

Just for your information: CMT Ready systems consist of wire feeding from a wire drum or spool, wire buffer, and CMT Robacta Drive drive unit—i.e., a second wire feed directly at the torch. Using reversing wire motion, which occurs at about 100 Hertz, the electromotor located in the drive unit scans the metal surface with the wire. This high-frequency scanning of the workpiece allows for the required accuracy, according to Fronius. Even if the surface being scanned has irregularities, the edge of a sheet can be reliably detected and measured, even if the component is positioned at an angle.

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