Delcam reseller Seacam partners with Motoman for robot machining
Delcam’s Sales Partner in Brazil, Seacam, has entered into a partnership with Yaskawa Motoman Robotics to promote machining with robots in the country. Potential applications where robots could be used include sculpting stone and wood, machining of foam and resin models, and trimming, deburring, linishing and grinding of a range of materials.
Seacam featured a Motoman robot programmed with Delcam’s PowerMILL Robot software as the centrepiece of its stand at the Feira da Mecanica exhibition held in Sao Paulo during May. The strong response to the demonstration convinced both companies that there is huge potential for machining with robots in Brazil.
PowerMILL Robot makes it as easy to program a robot for machining as it is to program a five-axis machine tool. With the software, robots can be programmed for tool-to-part applications, making them ideal for machining large parts, such as metal or composite panels that need to be trimmed, or for part-to-tool applications, such as grinding or linishing.
The system can be used to program and simulate the complete machining operation, and to control the robot’s movements through different variables, such as axis limits, axis priorities and workplane constraints.
Any issues that may prevent the toolpaths from being completed successfully are highlighted in the simulation, with notifications of the robot potentially reaching axis limits, singularities and collisions. Graphs display the axis limits, wrist singularity and axis reversals, to give a better understanding of how the robot will move. Similarly, the acceleration and deceleration of the robot’s axes are shown on time-based graphs.
Once the results of the simulation have been reviewed, and modified if necessary, the program can be output in the appropriate robot native language eliminating any need for third-party translation software. Acceleration, smoothing values and other robot-specific parameters can be defined as part of the output. Full support for external axes, such as rotary tables and linear tracks, can be included, as well as dedicated tools for spindle calibration.
07 July 2014