In a setting assistance device for assisting setting of a welding condition, an input receiving unit receives a new welding condition that is specified, and a reliability output unit outputs a degree of appropriateness of the new welding condition relative to a plurality of well-tested welding conditions, which are welding conditions that have been used in the past and well-tested, in response to reception of the new welding condition by the input receiving unit.

Provided is a wire body processing structure for a robot having a wrist, a base end of which is connected to a forearm in a rotatable manner about a first axis and a distal end of which has a plurality of working tools attached thereto. The wire body processing structure includes a first flexible conduit disposed along the first axis from the forearm to the distal end of the wrist and also includes a second flexible conduit disposed longitudinally within the first conduit. A first wire body for one of the working tools is extended longitudinally through the second conduit. A second wire body for another one of the working tools is extended longitudinally through a space between the first conduit and the second conduit.

The present invention introduces a new concept of applying a parallel mechanism in automated fiber placement for aerospace part manufacturing. The proposed system requirements are 4DOF parallel mechanism consisting of two RPS and two UPS limbs with two rotational and two translational motions. Both inverse and forward kinematics models are obtained and solved analytically. Based on the overall Jacobian matrix in screw theory, singularity loci are presented and the singularity-free workspace is correspondingly illustrated. To maximize the singularity-free workspace, locations of the two UPS limbs with the platform and base sizes are used in the optimization which gives a new design of a 4DOF parallel mechanism. A dimensionless Jacobian matrix is also defined and its condition number is used for optimizing the kinematics performance in the optimization process. A numerical example is presented with physical constraint considerations of a test bed design for automated fiber placement.

A welding device of a robot arm includes a welding machine having a first pressing member which includes a cylindrical first pressing part and a second pressing member which includes a second pressing part inserted into a hollow of the first pressing part. A transformer supplies a positive (+) current to the first pressing member and a negative () current to the second pressing member. The first and second pressing parts have the same co-axis.

A welding device of a robot arm includes a welding machine having a first pressing member which includes a cylindrical first pressing part and a second pressing member which includes a second pressing part inserted into a hollow of the first pressing part. A transformer supplies a positive (+) current to the first pressing member and a negative () current to the second pressing member. The first and second pressing parts have the same co-axis.

A method and apparatus for teaching a programmed controlled robot at least one of two set up position coordinates by use of a tool having a first surface aligned with the end of a stud welding gun collet when the tool is mounted in the collet, a second surface on the tool spaced from the first surface by a predetermined set up distance. A probe carried by the stud welding engagable with the second surface on the tool to establish a predetermined set up distance. A third surface on the tool spaced from the first surface and engagable with a work piece to establish a minimum stud-welding gun set up dimension. The coordinates of the stud-welding gun when the third surface is engaged with the work piece are transmitted to a robot control program to establish the predetermined stud weld gun travel distance dimension.

When setting welding conditions of arc welding, an operator sets the shape of a material to be welded, the specifications of welding, and welding conditions using a teach pendant. An apparatus for supporting setting of welding conditions in multi-pass welding of the present invention automatically calculates the state of the bead layering cross-section including at least one of the number of bead layers, the number of passes, and the layering direction, and the state of the bead layering cross-section including at least one of the number of bead layers, the number of passes, and the layering direction, obtained by the calculation is displayed on a display section.

After selecting a robot for carrying out a welding operation at a given welding spot, the cross-section of a welding gun with which that robot is provided and the cross-section of a workpiece at the welding spot are compared. Furthermore, a determination is made as to whether or not welding is possible without the welding gun and the workpiece coming into contact. When it is determined to be impossible, a substitute robot for carrying out the welding of the welding spot is selected. With the present invention, the automatic selection of the robot for carrying out the welding operation for the welding spot becomes possible. Therefore, the number of steps for robot selection can be reduced.

A tool welding system is disclosed that includes a table that heats a tool. A multi-axis robot includes a welding head that is moved relative to the table in response to a command. A controller is in communication with the robot and generates the command in response to welding parameters. The weld parameters are based upon a difference between an initial tool shape and a desired tool shape. The difference between the initial tool shape and the desired tool shape corresponds to a desired weld shape. The desired weld shape is adjusted based upon initial tool shape variations, which includes thermal growth of the tool. The tool is welded to provide the desired weld shape to achieve a desired tool shape.

A robotic wire termination system for efficiently connecting a plurality of wires to an electrical connector. The robotic wire termination system generally includes a frame, a connector support attached to the frame, a robot manipulator having at least one arm, a heating device attached to the at least one arm and a control unit in communication with the robot manipulator to control the operation of the robot manipulator. The arm of the robot manipulator is adapted to move the heating device so that the heating device can apply heat to a selected connector pin of the electrical connector.