The research study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Advanced Technologies

Research Studies Project Report (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1997

Industrial robots have been applied for many years in different applications. In the most developed countries production and installation of robotic systems are growing exponentially. In countries of the European Union, the United States and Japan implementation of complex robotic systems is a "must" for industries to survive. Implementation of robots in arc welding applications is increasing rapidly. By now, for the developed countries it is evaluated that approximately a quarter of all the robots installed, is for continuous arc welding applications. Developing countries in general and Thailand in particular, have started to engage industrial robots just recently. The implementation is fuelled by rapid growth of such industrial sectors as automotive, metalworking, machine tools and electronics. Automotive sector of Thailand has been growing remarkably, and implementation of robots in this sphere is expected to succeed. Nowadays, robotic systems, and especially those for continuous arc welding, should be applied widely, provided it has technical and economic justification. In Thailand and all the countries with low labour cost and lower quality standards, compared to the developed countries, this justification becomes a crucial point when considering robot implementation. The current research provides the justification of a robotic continuous arc welding system to process a muffler for an automotive company in Thailand. The project includes the technical and economic aspects, design of the system, graphical simulation of the process and off-line robot programming.