HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

ADITHYA NARAYANA .K.S

BHARATH.R.S

4th sem mechanical

4th sem mechanical

(Email-kadamba_adi@rediffmail.com)
bharathshetti@gmail.com)

KALPATARU

INSTITUTE

(Email-

OF

TECHNOLOGY

TIPTUR-572202

HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

1

ADITHYA NARAYANA.K.S, 2BHARATH.R.S

Audi_kadamba@rediffmail.com
bharathshetti@gmail.com

Abstract:
Robotics is a technology with a future and it
is a technology for the future. There is a large class of
applications in which the robot actually performs
work on the part. This work almost always requires
that the robots end effecter is a tool. The type of tool
depends on the processing operation that is
performed. The purpose of this paper is to present an
idea of building a Hybrid fabrication robot that will
do continuous arc welding, remove the chips on
welded joints by wire brushing and also do spray
coating on the joint of a pair of long and flat sheet
metals.

1.

Introduction:-

Robots are employed in a wide assortment of

applications in industry. Today most of the
applications are in manufacturing to move
materials, parts, and tools of various types. Future
applications will include nonmanufacturing tasks
such as construction work, exploration of space,
and medical care. At some time in distant future, a
household robot may become a mass produced
item, perhaps as common place as the automobile
is today.
For the present, most industrial applications of
robots can be divided into the following three
categories:
1 . Material-handling and machine loading and
unloading applications. In these applications the
robots function is to move materials or parts from
one location to other location. The MAKER 110 in
fig 1 is shown performing material-handling
operation. Loading and/or unloading of a
production machine is included within the scope of
this material-handling activity. The Unimate 2000
in fig 2 is performing machine load/unload
operation for a machine tool.
2 . Processing applications. This category includes
spot welding, arc welding, spray painting, and
other operations in which the function of the robot
is to manipulate a tool to accomplish some
manufacturing process in the work cell. Welding
represents particularly important applications in the
processing category.

industry is showing great interest because of

economic potential. The SCARA robot shown in
fig 3 is performing an assembly operation.
Inspection robots would make use of sensors to
gauge and measure quality characteristics of
manufacturing product.
2.

Processing Operations:-

There is a large class of applications in which the

robot actually performs work on the part. This
work almost always requires that the robots end
effector is always a tool to perform certain
processing operations. Accordingly, the use of a
tool to perform work is a distinguishing
characteristic of this group of applications. The
type of tool depends on the processing operation
that is performed. We divide the processing
operations that are performed by FABRIBOT-2009
into the following categories for purposes of
organizing this paper:
a) Continuous Arc welding
b) Wire brushing
c) Spray coating
d) Sensors used
a) Continuous Arc Welding
Continuous arc welding is used to make long
welded joints in which an airtight seal is often
required between the two metal pieces being
joined. The process uses an electrode in the form
of a rod or wire of metal to supply high electric
current needed for establishing the arc. Currents
are typically 100 to 300 A at voltages of 10 to 30
V. the arc between the welding rod and the metal
parts to be joined produces the temperatures that
are sufficiently high to form a pool of molten
metal to fuse the two pieces together.
For robot applications, two types of arc-welding
seem the most practical:
1.
2.

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW)

Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW)

3 . Assembly and inspection. These are two

separate operations which we include together in
this category. Robotic assembly is a field in which

HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

conventional air spray or airless spray guns. The
feature which distinguishes the electrostatic method
is that the object to be sprayed is electrically
grounded and the paint droplets are given a
negative charge to cause the paint to adhere to the
object better.

Fig. 1 MAKER 110

In these welding processes the wire is continuously

fed from coil and contributes to the molten metal
pool used in the fusion process. The welding wire
serves as the electrode in the arc-welding process.
GMA welding is typically used for welding steel.
In GTA welding (also called TIG welding for
tungsten inert gas welding), a tungsten rod is used
as the electrode to establish the arc. The GTA
process is typically used for welding aluminum,
copper and stainless steel. In both GMA and GTA
welding, inert gases such as helium or argon are
used to surround the immediate vicinity of the
welding arc to protect the fused surfaces from
oxidation.
b) Wire brushing
In this processing operation a power spindle is
attached to the robots wrist. The spindle is used to
rotate the wire brush that will be used for chip
removal after the continuous arc welding process.
c)

Spray Coating

This method involves the use of spray guns to

apply the paint spray system comes in various
designs, including conventional air spray, airless
spray and electrostatic spray. The conventional air
spray uses compressed air mixed with the paint to
atomize it into a high velocity stream. The stream
of air and paint is directed through a nozzle through
a nozzle. This causes the liquid to break up into
fine droplets due to the sudden decrease in pressure
in front of the nozzle. The electrostatic spray
method makes use of either conventional air spray
or airless spray guns. The electrostatic spray
method makes use of either conventional air spray
or airless spray guns. The feature which
distinguishes the electrostatic method is that the
object to be sprayed is electrically grounded and
the paint droplets are given a negative charge to
cause the paint to adhere to the object better at the
object to be painted. The airless spray does not uses
compressed air. Instead the liquid paint flows under
high fluid pressure through a nozzle. This causes
the liquid to break up into fine droplets due to the
sudden decrease in pressure in front of the nozzle.
The electrostatic spray method makes use of either

Fig. 2 UNIMATE 2000

3. Hazards of the following operations when
accomplished manually:a. Continuous Arc Welding
i. Arc from the welding process emits ultraviolet
radiation which is injurious to human vision. To be
protected from this the welder wears a helmet with
a dark window. This dark window filters out
harmful radiation, but it is so dark that the welder is
virtually blind while wearing the helmet except
when the arc is struck.
ii. The high temperatures created in arc welding
and the resulting

Fig.3 SCARA ROBOT

molten metals are inherently dangerous.

iii. The high electrical current used to create the arc
is also unsafe.
iv. Sparks and smokes generated during the process
and these are a potential threat to the operator.

HYBRID FABRICATION ROBOT

b. Spray coating
i. Fumes and mist in the air. These result naturally
from the spraying operation. Not all of the paint
droplets become attached to the surface of the
object. Some remain suspended in the atmosphere
of the spray painting booth. To protect the human
operators, ventilation systems must be installed in
the booth and protective clothes must be worn.
Even with this protection, the environment is
uncomfortable and sometimes toxic for humans.
ii. Noise from the nozzle. The spray gun nozzle
produces a loud shrill noise. Prolonged exposure by
humans can result in hearing impairments.
iii. Fire hazards. Flammable paint, atomized into a
fine mist and mixed with air, can result in flash
fires in the spray painting booths.
iv. Potential cancer hazards. Certain ingredients
used in modern paints are believed to be
carcinogenic, with potentially unsafe health
consequences to humans.

7. Sensor. A vision camera should be mounted on

the robot near the welding torch to view the weld
path. Highly structured light is usually required for
the camera sensors to function reliably. Single pass
system is preferred over double pass system.
Deviations from the programmed seam location are
detected and corrected in the weld path. The
obvious advantage of the single pass systems,
compared to the two pass system is that time is
saved by eliminating the need for a second pass
along the weld path.
Parts of Hybrid Fabrication Robot
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Spray gun
Welding electrode
Wire brush
Camera
a. At spray gun
b. At welding electrode
Machine unit
a. Welding machine
b. Air compressor
c. Electrical circuits and wiring
Guide track

4. Hybrid Fabrication Robot:Hybrid Fabrication Robot is an idea of building a

fabrication robot that can weld, wire brush the
joints to remove chips and spray paint the two long
sheet metals. Before designing weve to keep n
mind the following features:
1. Work volume and degrees of freedom: The
robots work volume must be large enough for the
sizes of the parts to be welded. A sufficient
allowance must be made for manipulation of
welding torch
2. Motion control system. Continuous-path control
is required for arc welding. The robot must be
capable of smooth continuous motion in order to
maintain uniformity of the welding seam.
3. Precision of motion. The accuracy and
repeatability of the robot determines to a large
extent the quality of the welding job.
4. Programming. Programming of the continuous
arc welding must be considered carefully. For
straight welding paths, the robot should possess the
capability for linear interpolation between two
points in space.
5. Hydraulic drive. Hydraulic drive is preferred
over electric or pneumatic drive in spray painting
applications.
6. Blower should be situated at the bottom near
power spindle attached with wire brush so that the
chips removed are blown away and the area is
made clean for spray painting.

5. Conclusion:This Hybrid Fabrication Robot is a very promising

technology which has to be considered by any
fabrication industry. It is worth to have such robot
that combines various operations in a single unit.
This is just an idea but we look forward to
implement it if necessary support is offered
6. References:1.Robotic Configurations Industrial Robotics by
M. P. Groover.
2.
Sensors
in
www.robots.com/sensors.txt.in

Robots-

3. Advanced Applications of Industrial Robots A

paper by S. K. Mathur Prof. of Mechatronics from
IIT Powai Bombay.