ABB Robotics has introduced the IRB 1520ID, an attractively priced, high performance addition to ABB’s dedicated arc welding robot family. The IRB 1520ID features internal Axis-1 routing of the welding cabling, a compact swing base, and 30% less weight than the IRB 1600ID, ABB’s premium performance welding robot.  The upper arm integrated dressing (ID) design simplifies programming and provides optimum protection for all media, including welding power and wire, shielding gas and pressurized air. This extends hose life by 50% and allows for more flexible movements, such as those needed for single-motion welds around cylindrical objects or weld seams on parts of a complex geometry. 

The compact base and lower weight, combined with a 1.5m reach and 4kg payload, make the new robot easy to install in a wide range of production configurations, in either floor or invert mount positions. Equipped with ABB’s second-generation TrueMove technology, the IRB 1520ID achieves the highest path accuracy in the lightweight arc welding robot class.  With the reduced maintenance costs and production downtime, the new robot provides the ultimate in round-the-clock welding durability and the lowest cost per weld of any comparable robot.   The IRB 1520ID also features the easy-to-use ABB FlexPendant HMI. With just a few buttons and an intuitive, multilingual interface, the FlexPendant can be used by operators with minimum training. 

The power source interface is also fully integrated, giving users full control over voltage, current, speed, gas flow, and other welding parameters from the same interface as the robot. Users of the he IRB 1520ID can access all the benefits of ABB’s Remote Service, a system which provides remote access to the arc welding system for production monitoring, fast diagnostics and predictive maintenance. “The integrated dress design allows the 1520ID to work on tighter, more complex fixtures,” said DiMalanta.  “It extends torch cable life and eliminates the concern of the welding torch cable interfering with the welding process.”