New partnership to accelerate robot-assisted industrial 3D printing

A new partnership has been extended to offer customised, automated solutions that accelerate robot-assisted additive manufacturing.

CAD/CAM software company ModuleWorks and Robotized, supplier of bespoke CNC and robotic manufacturing solutions, already supply customers with tailor-made solutions for subtractive and additive manufacturing.

The two companies are now extending and intensifying this cooperation to help manufacturers digitalise their existing workflows and transfer to automated and highly efficient robot-driven production for Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) and other additive processes.

Lothar Glasmacher, head of additive and process technologies at ModuleWorks, said: “There is a lot of potential for automating and accelerating additive manufacturing, especially CMT manufacturing. Robotized are recognised experts for robot-assisted welding and build-up welding applications, and together we want to digitalize existing processes and use intelligent toolpath planning to deliver efficient, automated solutions that enable manufacturers to remain competitive and productive.”

The cooperation combines Robotized process optimisation for robotic and machine kinematics with the latest ModuleWorks toolpath algorithms for additive manufacturing. The ModuleWorks algorithms generate high-performance, collision-free toolpaths with minimal operator intervention for highly automated and efficient workflows that speed up the manufacturing process.

As part of the collaboration ModuleWorks is developing new algorithms for fast CMT manufacturing. This will enable the partners to offer robot-assisted CMT solutions alongside wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), laser cladding and material extrusion.

Norbert Krach, managing director of Robotized added: "We have been working successfully with ModuleWorks on CAM customer projects for many years. The ModuleWorks components enable us to implement powerful, individualized customer solutions in a very short time. We’re excited about the extended partnership and look forward to offering our customers the latest automation technology."

ModuleWorks www.moduleworks.com