Guyson Corporation has integrated a 6-axis robot nozzle manipulator into an automated rotary blast machine for repetitive surface treatment operations. The robotic blast system was developed to consistently perform critical surface preparation on irregularly shaped components, but it is also suitable for a variety of other blasting applications.
RSSA-8 Seven-Axis Robotic Blast Machine
The articulated robot arm is rigidly mounted at the rear of the blast cabinet on a welded base attached to the frame of the finishing enclosure. Fitted tightly around the effector end of the robot that extends into the blast chamber through an opening in the back wall of the cabinet is a custom-tailored laminated nylon skirt to seal the rear of the blast machine and isolate the precision manipulator from the abrasive blasting environment. Workers are excluded from the area around the quiet-moving robot by a welded wire cage.
In addition to the motion capabilities of the robot, the rotary table of the blast machine is driven by a servomotor that is integrated with the robot controller as a seventh axis of motion. The radial orientation of a component fixtured on the table can be programmed with extreme accuracy and synchronized with complex motions of the blast nozzle, allowing precise control of the distance and speed of the nozzle(s) in relation to the surface of the component.
Provided with the robot blasting package is a user-friendly teach pendant that enables development of motion programs for new components. Once a program is saved and identified with a unique code or part number, the automated processing routine can be recalled and run using the blast machine’s touch-screen interface alone.
Guyson optionally offers advanced component recognition features such as bar code scanning to automate program selection or verify the pre-programmed process matches the part that has been loaded.
In addition to robotic nozzle manipulation, Guyson also integrates machine tending robots for automated loading and unloading of various types of production blast cleaning and surface preparation machines.
Prospective users of the automated blasting system are encouraged to submit sample components for free laboratory testing and application engineering evaluation at the Guyson factory in northeastern New York State.
