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Nooteboom Trailers chooses Yaskawa HC10 welding cobot
Nooteboom Trailers B.V., a family business founded in 1881, is an international company that offers its customers integrated special transport models in the field of exceptional road transport. In order to weld the many parts or steel structures used in the trailers, Nooteboom Trailers chose to purchase a Yaskawa HC10 cobot from Automise B.V.
Automise is specialized in automating production processes. This can involve providing personal and independent advice, developing welding jigs or robot tooling or integrating software to program (welding) robots. In addition, it is possible for Automise to program (welding) robots online and offline or to train your own staff in programming robots.
The collaboration between Nooteboom and Automise came about at the end of 2019, with the question whether Automise wanted to supply a cobot installation to weld trailer parts. A cobot or co-robot is a robot that is intended to work with people in a common working environment.
Smaller investment, big advantage
Nooteboom, who have already been working with a Yaskawa AR2010 welding robot for a number of years, opted for the Yaskawa HC10 cobot. The HC10 has all the functions that are also present in a normal welding robot. This makes it possible to search and track welds, weld multilayer and program offline from a computer. In addition, it is possible to grab the cobot, place it in the right position and make programs the cobot way. This is possible with the “Welding Wizard” application which is included in the HC10. With the Yaskawa HC10, Nooteboom has the ease of programming a cobot and the functionalities of a robot.
At Nooteboom Trailers, the cobot is mounted on a mobile workbench on the side of a steel column. The reach on the welding table is therefore optimal, but it is also possible to turn the steel column and place the cobot above a product or trailer. This makes it possible to weld trailers with the cobot per segment, for which a large robot installation would otherwise have to be purchased.
Raymond Belderink, COO at Nooteboom Trailers: “For the investment of one large welding robot for welding our trailers, we can integrate several cobots in the future. Instead of one welding torch, we then have four or five welding torches that can weld trailers or trailer parts. ”
The setup is adjustable in height, so it is ergonomic for every employee. It can also be coupled with a welding table to increase the working range. The controller and the Fronius welding machine are concealed in the mobile workbench. Only the plugs, the welding gas and a compressed air line must be connected to the rear.
Safe and flexible working environment due to smart safety functions
A cobot is allowed to perform its activities next to the employee, but this does not remove the risks of the welding process. Several safety functions have been integrated in consultation with an RIE expert. A rotating beacon lets you know when the cobot is moving. If there has been a collision or the cobot is in malfunction, this will be made clear by means of a siren. To minimize the dangers of the welding light or stray light, a number of welding screens are equipped with a cord with plug, these welding screens must be connected to the controller in order to be able to weld. With this facility, there is a guarantee that welding screens will be present in the vicinity of the welding light. Thanks to the combination of all these facilities, maximum attention has been paid to the safety of the employee.
The collaboration between Nooteboom and Automise was of great importance in this project. The design was created in consultation, Nooteboom produced all parts and Automise installed and integrated the cobot. Sander Oude Vrielink, CEO of Automise: “We like to work with our customers, so everyone can do what they are good at. By working together in this way, the parts are immediately in the right place and Nooteboom has control over the costs. If a customer prefers to outsource everything, that is of course also no problem for us.”
Ease of programming; both online and offline
Nooteboom has been able to work with the cobot for several months now. The initial findings are very positive. Niels Verbeet and Vanya Staalman, robot and cobot programmers at Nooteboom, have been involved in programming the new Yaskawa HC10 cobot from the start.
Niels and Vanya, on programming the Yaskawa HC10 cobot: “Until now, we have used the cobot to weld smaller products. Programming is simple and we soon had a number of programs ready. The welding parameters are easy to set and the products come out well. It is also very convenient to weld small welding assemblies on the cobot which are later welded into a larger product with the welding robot ”. In order to program the cobot offline in the future, Automise has fully integrated it into the offline programming software Delfoi. Nooteboom is already using the Delfoi software on the large Yaskawa portal welding robot. The offline programming of the cobot comes into its own, especially when programming large products or trailer segments. Nooteboom thus has the option of programming the cobot both online and offline.
