D&S Mfg. integrates robotic welding cell

To meet the goal of a large increase in its robotic welding cell envelope, D&S Mfg., Black River Falls, Wis., a custom manufacturer of large-scale components, assemblies, and weldments, has integrated a new robotic welding cell featuring two ABB IRB 2500 6-axis robots, two Lincoln welding power supplies, and an IRBP K servo positioner, all controlled by a single ABB IRC5 MultiMove control.

The operator interface, proprietary to Wolf Robotics, provides access through a touchscreen display to all necessary information and control functions used to operate the welding cell. The company reports that the integration of the robots and the twin-station positioner will increase the size of weldments it can produce robotically while improving cycle times with multiple robots welding in coordination on the same part.

The operator can continue to work on the load side of the positioner while the robots are welding on the other side. Load-and-go fixturing eliminates the need to perform manual tack welding before loading components into the carousel.