In the metal manufacturing industry, the choice of welding technology directly impacts production efficiency, welding quality, and overall cost. Currently, the two most common automated welding solutions in industrial settings are arc welding robots and laser welding. Both can achieve automation, but their technical principles, applicable scenarios, cost structures, and welding effects differ significantly.

What is an Arc Welding Robot?

1. Working Principle

An arc welding robot is an industrial robot used for automated arc welding operations. Its core principle is to utilize an electric arc to generate high temperatures (up to 6000℃ or higher) to melt the base material and welding wire, thereby completing the welding. It is mainly used in various industries such as automotive, construction machinery, railway, aerospace, home appliances, and shipbuilding. It is characterized by flexible movement, high speed, and high precision, requiring high accuracy in its motion trajectory.

Common arc welding methods include:

MIG (Metal Injection Gas Welding), TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas Welding), and CO₂ gas shielded welding.

2. Technical Features

• Small size, flexible movement, and large working range.
• High repeatability to ensure welding quality.
• Features welding torch oscillation function.
• Rich interface functions, facilitating configuration with multiple brands and types of welding machines.

Interface functions for welding sensors (robot collision avoidance, weld seam position detection, automatic weld seam tracking, etc.). In arc welding, the welding torch must track the workpiece’s weld bead movement and continuously fill it with metal to form a weld. Therefore, the stability of the speed and the accuracy of the trajectory during movement are two crucial indicators. Generally, the welding speed is 5–50 mm/s, and the trajectory accuracy is ±(0.2–0.5) mm. Since the torch’s posture also affects weld quality, the adjustable range of the torch posture should be as large as possible while tracking the weld bead.