Kawasaki’s Latest Through-arm Arc Welding Robot Now in North America

Kawasaki Robotics' portfolio of industrial robots and robotic automation systems provides a broad spectrum of automated solutions. The company's most recent addition to the North American market is the BA013N, an arc-welding industrial robot that advances Kawasaki's BA series.

 

Kawasaki’s latest addition to its BA series is the BA013N compact welding robot arm. Image used courtesy of Kawasaki Robotics

 

Kawasaki Arc Welding Robots

Since the mid-1980s, Kawasaki Robotics has kept widening the working range, increasing torque, speeding up cycle times, and providing longer reach in its arc-welding robotic arms. In 2015, Kawasaki Robotics introduced its first model in the BA series, the BA006N/L, marking the onset of Kawasaki’s new generation of welding robots. Without exempting its latest addition in the BA series, the BA013N arc welding robot arm, launched on August 18, 2023, offers improved features that distinguish it from its predecessors in the series.

 

BA013N Compact Welding Robot

Kawasaki’s BA013N welding robotic arm is compactly designed, with a weight of 260 kg and a base dimension of 519 mm by 390 mm. It can carry payloads up to 13 kg and offers an extended range of movement with a 1,492 mm maximum reach and a minimum reach of 490 mm.

The robot arm is designed with six degrees of freedom and offers flexibility in handling complex movements in its welding tasks. The BA013N offers high precision in repeating welding tasks with positional repeatability of 0.04 mm and provides fast operation with high-speed air cut movements.

 

Unlike a traditional welding robot, Kawasaki’s BA013N has a hollow wrist for simplified cable and hose management. Image used courtesy of Adobe Stock

 

Through-arm Cable Arc Welding

Unlike traditional welding robots, Kawasaki's BA013N is a through-arm cable arc welding robot. The BA013N has a 53 mm diameter hollow wrist in the upper arm and 50 mm in the robot's flange. This hollow wrist design simplifies cable and hose management near the torch. It makes installation easier, as only a single cable is needed to connect the welder and the robot. The hollow wrist design also allows for reliable programming offline and reduces cable wear and tear.

 

Automated Welding Solutions

As welding technology changes constantly for the better, the emergence of automated welding solutions to tackle some of the industrial demands is also increasing. With manufacturers and engineers working to find solutions that offer efficiency and precision, technologies like Kawasaki’s BA013N can be expected to enter the wider North American market due to faster operation speeds, greater precision, and a longer reach for use in a wide range of welding applications.