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Rice Automation
What is robotic welding?
Robotic welding is a welding robot, a power source, and a wire feeder, working inside a cell that keeps people out of the arc. Rice Automation sells refurbished Fanuc welding robots and builds the cells. Every cell runs at Rice Automation before it ships.
How a welding robot works
The robot moves the torch. Mild steel, stainless, and aluminum are the everyday materials. Rice Automation sells Fanuc ARC Mate welding robots. Programming is done on the teach pendant, point to point, with instructions for where the arc starts and stops.
The arm does not decide the weld by itself. A person teaches the path, sets the schedule, and starts the program from the operator controls. The same path repeats. That is the point of a welding robot: the torch angle and the travel speed stay where they were taught.
MIG and TIG robotic welding
The ARC Mate line is built for arc welding. Compact arms, including the 6 kg (13 lb) 100iB and the 10 kg (22 lb) 100iC, are the ones used for smaller MIG and TIG fixtures. Heavier arms, including the 20 kg (44 lb) 120iC, carry a larger torch package. The model page lists the payload and the reach.
The power source is a multi-process welder that talks to the robot over DeviceNet or Ethernet. Lincoln, Miller, and Fronius are the welders Rice pairs with these Fanuc robots. A ServoTorch is one of the torch options. The operator picks a schedule, for example constant voltage or a pulse program, in the robot's arc welding schedule. Call and we will tell you the welder, wire feeder, and torch on the robot you are looking at.
The cell around the robot
The cell is the enclosure, the fixture, and the positioner. It is sized around the part and around how the part is loaded. A single zone cell has one opening: load, then weld. A dual zone cell lets you load one station while the robot welds the other, which is how the arc stays on between parts.
Safety controllers watch doors and, on the cells that use them, area scanners or a light curtain. They stop the robot if someone steps in. Operator controls, push buttons or a touch screen, start and stop the program. Walls on the standard cells are solid steel, and the personnel door is on a safety interlock.
Rice Automation builds these robotic welding cells and runs each cell at Rice Automation before it ships.
What parts suit a welding robot
A welding robot earns its place on work that repeats. The same joint, taught once, runs again on the next part. Small cells with modular fixtures let one robot weld more than one product. Positioning units on the jig and receiving units on the base are made in the shop at Rice Automation, which has a fiber laser, a 5-axis waterjet, and milling and turning centers.
If the part changes every hour and never repeats, a robot is the wrong tool. If the joint is the same from part to part, the used welding robots in the library are the arms to start from. Call (877) 855-7020 with the part.
Refurbished Fanuc arms
A refurbished welding robot from Rice Automation is serviced before it is sold. The arm is inspected, batteries are replaced, joints are greased, and the robot is run under power. You can watch it move at Rice Automation before it ships. As-is robots are labeled as-is.
The library runs from R-J3iB controllers on the 100iB and 120iB, through R-30iA and R-30iB, to R-30iB Plus on the 100iD and 120iD family. Each model page lists payload, reach, repeatability, and the controller family. Call (877) 855-7020 and we will tell you the controller and the welder on the robot you are looking at.
Positioners, shipping, and a tour
A positioner holds the part and turns it so the joint stays in position. A headstock and tailstock, a two-axis positioner, a robot indexer, and a robot travel track are the equipment Rice Automation pairs with a cell. A track moves the welding robot along a long weldment instead of moving the part. Those pages are under welding positioners.
The robot still needs a person to teach it. The pendant stores the points, the arc start, and the arc end. Once that program is proven on one part, the next part follows the same path. That repeatability is why a shop puts a welding robot on work that comes back every day.
When a robot or a cell ships, freight is quoted and it ships nationwide. You do not have to buy from a photo. The shop at 166 Hwy V has welding robots running production Monday through Friday. Call (877) 855-7020 and set a time to watch a cell weld.
If you are selling a robot rather than buying one, tell us the model, the controller, and the welder. That form is on sell your welding robot.
