Cutting, chamfering, glue and marking with a robot
Besides welding, a cell can cut with a laser, plasma or waterjet, chamfer edges, lay glue or sealant and mark parts. How to set the recipe, the path and the signals.
The process is set by a recipe in the "WPS & fixtures" tab — pick it in the process field. The path is created like a seam, of type contour, hole, bead or marking.
Processes and required recipe values
- Laser cutting: power (power_w), speed (travel_speed_mm_s), gas (cut_gas: O2, N2 or AIR), gas pressure (gas_pressure_bar), pierce time (pierce_ms), kerf width (kerf_mm).
- Plasma cutting: current (current_a), speed, cut height (cut_height_mm), pierce time, kerf width.
- Waterjet cutting: pressure (pressure_bar), speed, pierce time, kerf width; abrasive rate optional.
- Deburring / chamfering: spindle speed (spindle_rpm), speed, chamfer size (chamfer_mm).
- Glue / sealant: speed, bead width (bead_width_mm); pressure (pressure_bar) or a dispenser preset; open and close delays (open_delay_ms, close_delay_ms) optional.
- Laser marking: power, speed.
Values that are neither in the recipe nor in a confirmed equipment preset are never made up: generation stops and says what is missing.
The cut path
The CAD line is the finished edge of the part. For a cut the system:- puts the tool square to the sheet. "Torch orientation from 3D" also finds the side without material (the scrap): in front of an outer edge, inside a hole;
- moves the cut half a kerf toward the scrap, so the part comes out at its drawn size;
- pierces in the scrap and enters the contour in a straight line (lead-in lead_in_mm, 3 mm by default);
- runs a closed contour — a hole or an outline — on past its start (overlap_mm, 1 mm) so no web is left.
The scrap side can also be set by hand: cut_side = left or right of the travel, as G41 / G42 on machine tools. If the side is unknown, no program is generated.
The reach check runs on the shifted path with its lead-in, and the report says exactly what was checked.
Chamfer
The tool runs along the bisector of the edge and goes in far enough to leave a chamfer of the set size (on a right angle: size × 0.71).What happens in the program
- Laser: gas → beam → pierce standing still → height control on → cut; the reverse at the end.
- Plasma: start → the program waits for the arc to transfer to the part, and only then moves.
- Chamfer: the spindle runs up before the tool approaches the part and stops after it has left.
- Glue: opens with a delay at the start, closes with a delay at the end.
Weaving, seam tracking and tacks belong to welding; the system refuses them in the other processes.
Cell signals
The new signals are mapped in the cell equipment (io_map) like the welding ones: gas_pressure, height_control, plasma_start, arc_transfer, plasma_current, pump_ready, waterjet_on, abrasive_on, water_pressure, spindle_on, spindle_speed, spindle_at_speed, dispenser_on, dispense_pressure, dispenser_ready.Optional — without a mapping their steps are skipped with a warning: height_control, abrasive_on, dispenser_ready. All the others must be mapped.