The Facility for Intelligent Fabrication (FIF), located at the University of Wollongong in Australia, has recently announced a successful collaboration with Verbotics, a robotic automation software provider.
The FIF is a centre for advanced manufacturing research and technology, specialising in developing next-generation materials using welding applications, digital twins, industry 4.0, and wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). The FIF faced a significant challenge in their manufacturing process development due to the programming expertise and time required to create robot programs for their experiments. This led to smaller and simpler tests being conducted compared to what is achieved today. A second problem for the FIF is planning motion paths for their WAAM research. In this case the burden of programming limited the complexity of the parts they were making, or utilise less optimal process paths due to the difficulty in creating complex coordinated motions.
Verbotics provided the FIF with two programming capabilities to address their problem. The first is Verbotics Weld, a desktop application that generates robot programs from design drawings. Its features allowed users with little robotics expertise to develop robot welding programs. The second is a planning service integrated into their WAAM software solution, which enables high complexity in process path planning capabilities.
Using Verbotics has allowed the FIF to reduce programming time, turn experiments around quickly, and have a consistent and efficient workflow across all their robot systems. Verbotics’ ease of use has also allowed FIF to train research students without robot expertise to undertake research in less time.
Dr Phil Commins, Acting Director of the Facility for Intelligent Fabrication, expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration, stating, “It wouldn’t be economical for us to do it any other way. Verbotics allows us to get so much more done.”
This successful partnership between the FIF and Verbotics highlights the importance of robotic automation in advanced manufacturing research and technology. Verbotics is committed to continuously improving its planning algorithms to meet the FIF’s requirements and enable future applications.
