Processautomation med robot : En studie av möjligheter till automation av en hårdlödningsprocess

Sammanfattning: This report is a Bachelor thesis and has been done within the area of mechanical engineering at Linköping university. The thesis has been performed as a project upon request from the company Bosch Thermoteknik AB in Tranås, Sweden. The company produces heat pumps, and in the process, brazing is used as a method to build the pipe modules the pumps contain. The brazing is currently made in terms of craftmanship in the production at the company. The purpose of this project was to investigate the possibilities to automate a brazing process and present a possible solution the company can use. The solution should mainly be based on the use of an industrial robot together with an equipment for induction heating.An iterative concept-generating process for production development was used as method to perform the project. Based on the method, a result consisting of two main areas were acquired. The first area was a study of the prerequisites for the project – the process demands and a review of the technique the resources used. The other area was the concept solution for how a brazing process can be automated.The concept itself was built by two areas. One physical part in the shape of a fixture to carry the pipe-modules during the process as well as tools and aids for the robot function. The other area was the program that forms the robot’s function. The program was based on solutions to enable identification of the modules, positioning of the robot arm with tool and a verification part to ensure the brazing has been done. The robot program was founded on a written program script to control the robot.