Industrial 3D printing or additive manufacturing is a system that seeks to help manufacturers adapt automation with new technologies to products taking into account market variations and costs.
The application of this type of technology brings advantages such as:
- Minimum use of materials and efficient use of energy
- Lower costs of integration, assembly and efficient use of space
- Acquisition of new technologies
- Customization of products
- Greater productive demand.
ABB Robotics has applied this additive manufacturing concept by adding enhancements to its RobotStudio simulation and offline programming PowerPac software, including 3D printing capabilities.
PowerPac ABB software transforms different models of cutting software into ABB’s robot code and simulation realm. According to ABB, this means that the operator can go from the CAD design stage to the final product modeling in about half an hour.
The PowerPac will accept a variety of processes, such as welding and printing of particles and concrete, making it ideal for high-mix printing in small batches.
Steven Wyatt, portfolio and digital director at ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation commented: “With our new 3D printing software, we are providing customers with a faster and more optimized 3D printing process. Coupled with the high performance of our robots, this means that manufacturers can now produce high-quality 3D printed objects for a variety of industrial applications more efficiently. ”
New RobotStudio capabilities optimize the efficiency and accuracy of robot programming by minimizing downtime.
It even offers remote maintenance service, risk management, training and troubleshooting.