Valk Welding: Panasonic robotics VR serie

Panasonic VR-008L

Short summary 

 

General
• The very latest technology.
• Extremely high reliability.
• 1-to-1 communication and integration with power sources, external axis (handling devices and longitudinal guides)
• DTPS off-line programmable.
• PPS (Program Protection System) possible
• NEW: GLOBAL CONTROLLER with DIGITAL INTERFACE.

Robot arm:
• High acceleration and deceleration of the robot axes.
• Fluent and rapid movements.
• More rapid driving gears.
• All axes independent from each other.
• Newest RV-gear transmissions.
• Highly rigid structure.
• Large working volume. (large external diameter and small internal diameter)
• Slim construction for complex robot cells and/or difficult products and moulds.
• Dust and splash proof. (IP54 standard, IP65 possible)

Robot control
• Extremely compact control cabinet. (controller) 
• Digital communication between controller and welding power source.
• PCMCIA slots for among others flash disk memory cards.
• Tip Monitor: preventive check of the conductor’s wear and tear.
• Weld Monitor: on-line monitoring of welding parameters with possibility of alarm functions
• Subroutine Call: calling of various programmes from different layers
• Hot Edit: possibility to shift programme items in automatic mode
• Label Jump: jumping not only to the step number in a programme but also to name labels
• Comment line: add extra information to a step.
• Tool Safety Function: for ex. when the welding wire is finished and the conductor in a programme must be changed, the torch can be retracted with one key and the process can be resumed .
• External Inching: lead-through of the wire with 1 external head.
• Crash Protection Software: in case the three last axes are overloaded, they are immediately released to prevent damaging. At the same time, the 3 first axes will retract slightly in the opposite direction. The robot will spring back slightly in order to limit the consequences of a collision.
• New software for digital servo-monitoring.
• 6 standard weaving patterns with adjustable amplitudes, frequencies and waiting times.
• Parallel/ 3D shift and RT-rotation.
• Arc-start-retry function: when the robot does not immediately start due to for example silicon, the robot will try to restart again up to nine times with the help of this standard software option, whereby the robot each time moves slightly in the welding direction. Once the arc is ignited, the robot will very rapidly move to the starting point, in order to apply a complete welding.

• Automatic wire stick release: at the end of the welding process, this function not only monitors whether the welding wire is indeed burnt off from the product, but in case the wire still sticks in the welded joint, this subroutine will automatically burn off the welding wire.

• Overlap function: with this function, the robot will move back when stopped during a welding process, in order to resume welding, and move slightly against the welding direction in order to apply a complete welding.

• Resume function: in case of a power failure, the robot will be able to immediately continue working because the robot’s exact place will be remembered. Therefore, a new calibration will not be necessary.

With the functions Arc Start Retry and Wire Stick Release the duration for switching on the robot installation may be largely increased. Indeed, in practice most breakdowns and downtimes are caused by problems during starting and stopping. Especially with the current valid safety standards and the components required thereto, these functions are very useful. 

• Flying start function: when making a lot of short weldings, the flying start functions will enable the total welding time to be reduced. Precisely because the robot will start with gas feeding and tensioning of the wire exactly before the point where the robot will be started, it will start welding directly at the beginning of the welding joint.  This will result in an important reduction of the total welding time, in particular for products with lots of small weldings.
 
• Easy to programme: The Panasonic robots have been developed as welding robots, based on the principle that the welder who welded the product in the past, must now be able to programme the robot. This will result in very simple and clear programming.

• Management information system: with the use of this system, the welding time can be defined per product and counts per product type can be made in order to always produce the exact number.
• Jog function: accurate programming with one button to cause the robot to move 1.0 mm, 0.4 mm or 0.1 mm.
• PCMCIA slots: standard storage of your data via the well known PCMCIA flash cards.
• I/O communication: actuation of peripheral equipment via in and outputs
• Expansion options: digital in and outputs, analogue outputs, external axes, Spin-Arc, tactile searching, weld monitoring, Ethernet, device net, profibus, off-line programming, software,… etc.
• Wire retraction with programming unit: during programming, pull the wire forward/backward for accurate programmes.
• Arc-Test: during welding, check the programme and correct welding parameters. Only the optimal setting will be stored.

The robot installations must be made in conformity with the CE-marking. In order to comply with these standards, the robot installations include among others:
• a dead man's knob on the programming console.
• buttons on the robot arm to raise the brakes of the various axes
• programming manual in Dutch.
• a control cabinet in which all prints can be reached safely by the technician - a double emergency circuit.