Contributing Writer
- FMA
- The Fabricator
- FABTECH
- Canadian Metalworking
Categories
- Additive Manufacturing
- Aluminum Welding
- Arc Welding
- Assembly and Joining
- Automation and Robotics
- Bending and Forming
- Consumables
- Cutting and Weld Prep
- Electric Vehicles
- En Español
- Finishing
- Hydroforming
- Laser Cutting
- Laser Welding
- Machining
- Manufacturing Software
- Materials Handling
- Metals/Materials
- Oxyfuel Cutting
- Plasma Cutting
- Power Tools
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Roll Forming
- Safety
- Sawing
- Shearing
- Shop Management
- Testing and Measuring
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Waterjet Cutting
Industry Directory
Webcasts
Podcasts
FAB 40
Advertise
Subscribe
Account Login
Search
Daihen opens new tech center in Detroit
New space allows local manufacturers to see the latest in manual and robotic welding technologies
- By Rob Colman
- May 24, 2018
On May 16, Daihen Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its new Detroit Technical Center in Commerce Township, Mich. (see Figure 1). The new facility provides regional sales, applications, and service.
“The new facility is approximately three times the size of our former facility in Novi,” said Mike Monnin, general manager of Daihen Inc. “The extra space and additional services that will be provided from this facility will give us the ability to better serve our customers in the area.”
The grand opening included demonstrations of OTC Daihen’s manual and robotic welding technologies.
The manual welding area had a booth in which visitors could try their hand welding with the company’s Welbee P500L pulse/low-spatter power source on mild steel (see Figure 2) and the P400 pulse power source on aluminum. Both were equipped with the company’s intelligent torch, which is a torch with buttons and a display on it that allows welders to adjust all their controls without having to go to the power source.
Three welding robots were on show during the opening. One was a pre-engineered robotic welding production cell called the Eco-Arc 200, comprising an FD-V8 welding robot, a Welbee P500L power source, and Synchro-feed aluminum welding package. The robot demonstrated basic wire and arc additive manufacturing of aluminum.
“Synchro-feed is really the magic behind a couple of the demonstrations we have at the open house today,” Monnin said. “It’s a combination of a servotorch that’s controlled by the robot and a wire buffer that tells how much wire is being accumulated back into the system. It’s like a sewing machine action that does the welding.
“We draw the wire back to heat up the tip to get a droplet to form, and then we set the droplet down into the puddle while we turn off the current. Synchronizing all of these processes is what the encoder does,” he continued. “The example of additive manufacturing demonstrates the sort of result you get using this with aluminum—virtually no spatter and very controlled heat input.”
Monnin described the Eco-Arc concept as “my first robot”—a cell that can be installed as-is and moved around the shop on its base. It’s designed with two weld tables so that one can be loaded as the other is busy welding a part.
Another welding robot on show was the 7-axis FD-B4S. It was set up to demonstrate the Synchro-feed tackling galvanized steel. The robot itself, however, is distinctive for its central axis, which allows it to move more freely around an assembly.
“We have five models of this, from 4 kg up to 20 kg in both hollow and conventional wrist,” Monnin said. “The seventh axis is useful if you want to try to put multiple robots in a small space and they have to work around each other. In a job shop, it would allow you to have less complicated tooling because the part wouldn’t have to be tilted or moved as the robot could work around the part.”
The third welding robot on display was the FD-V8 equipped with a FD-QT laser camera seam tracker/finder.
“As the weld seam moves around or gets wider or narrower, the sensor adjusts position and weld process as necessary,” Monnin said. “Errorproof welding is what we’re aiming for. The camera is fully integrated with our FD-11 controller. I don’t pull out a PC to set this up; I pick up the teach pendant, and it shows me an image of what the camera sees. I then pick the points on the seam geometry that I want to translate into coordinates for the robot.”
subscribe now
The Welder, formerly known as Practical Welding Today, is a showcase of the real people who make the products we use and work with every day. This magazine has served the welding community in North America well for more than 20 years.
start your free subscriptionAbout the Author
Rob Colman
About the Publication
Related Companies
- Stay connected from anywhere
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Welder.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Tube and Pipe Journal.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator en Español.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 05/14/2024
- Running Time:
- 62:12
Cameron Adams of Laser Precision, a contract metal fabricator in the Chicago area, joins the podcast to talk...
- Trending Articles
Building a successful welding program from the ground up
Welding power source’s modes designed to help optimize performance
Connecticut students compete in Maritime Welding Competition
Torch made for welding thin, conductive sheet metal
Welding jacket designed for protection, comfort
- Industry Events
Laser Welding Certificate Course
- May 7 - August 6, 2024
- Farmington Hills, IL
World-Class Roll Forming Workshop
- June 5 - 6, 2024
- Louisville, KY
Advanced Laser Application Workshop
- June 25 - 27, 2024
- Novi, MI
Precision Press Brake Certificate Course
- July 31 - August 1, 2024
- Elgin,