Page 34 - MetalForming Magazine April 2023

mine the exact location of each individual weld,” says Ceulemans. “And, we had to enter all of the move- ments, from the start of a weld to the conclusion of a weld, to avoid collisions. With the new software, we only need to determine the type of weld and fine-tune the weld while the software handles movements to and from the weld. In the past, while programming the robot welding we would focus on programming the robot,” he continues. “Now we can focus mainly on the welding.”
More Automated Welding Expected
Van Hool now hopes to automate even more steps that it currently per- forms manually. At that point, the firm expects offline programming to
“The kingpin plate con- sists of components laser cut from steel sheet,” he explains. “If necessary, these compo- nents are bent and joined with adhesive welds, and then the robot finishes the welding. Programming for kingplate welding can range from 2 hr. to a couple of days, depending on the complexity of components. We hope to reduce programming time by 50 percent via the software. Because of the large diversity in components and their complexity, much welding- programming knowhow now rests with the robot program-
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Twenty-plus robots at Van Hool Industrial Vehicles provide arc weld- ing for assembly of components from individual parts as well as the joining of complete chassis. Programming these robots, quite chal- lenging, especially for complex, small-volume production, necessitat- ed the successful search for an automated, offline-programming solution.
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improve robotic welding productivity by as much as 50 percent.
Production of kingpin plates used in steering mechanisms on heavier vehicles, offers Ceulemans, provides an example of expected future gains via the software.
mer. This is not that easy to automate. We hope that the Oqton software’s AI will help us to capture this informa- tion.” MF
Information for this article was pro- vided by Oqton, with U.S. offices in San Francisco, CA; www.oqton.com.
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