Robotic automation, surface finishing and laser processing

Robotic surface finishing

Grinding, sanding, polishing and deburring are where hand finishing costs the most and varies the most. A robot applies the same pressure along the same path on every part, hour after hour, and takes the operator out of the dust, the noise and the vibration.

Finishing cells are built around the part: compliant or force-controlled tooling so the media follows the surface, path generation from the CAD model rather than point-by-point teaching, media change and wear compensation planned into the cycle, and extraction designed in from the start rather than added when the housekeeping complaints arrive.

Robotic 3D scanning and inspection

A robot-carried scanner inspects the same features on every part, in-line or at the end of a cell, and produces a deviation map against the CAD model rather than a handful of caliper readings. The same capability feeds reverse engineering when a legacy part has no drawing, and first-article inspection when a new tool comes online.

Laser welding and laser ablation

Laser welding for thin-section and precision joints where heat input and distortion matter. Laser ablation — laser cleaning — strips coatings, paint, rust, oxide and mould release without blast media or chemicals, which suits weld preparation, tooling and mould cleaning, and selective stripping where masking would be awkward.

Cell design, reach and cycle time

Before anything is bought, the cell is laid out and simulated: reach at every station, singularity and collision checks, cycle time with the real part and the real gripper, and the operator's load and unload path. The output is a layout you can put in front of a plant manager and a cycle time you can plan production against.

End-of-arm tooling

Custom EOAT designed and built for the part: grippers, vacuum, compliant finishing heads, quick-change plates and sensing to confirm the part is actually held. Tooling is treated as a designed machine element, with drawings and spares, not as a bracket improvised at commissioning.

Safety and controls integration

Light curtains, guarding, interlocks and emergency stop designed with the cell, plus PLC and HMI integration delivered with our controls engineers and programmers. Installed, run off and documented on your floor, with operator training that covers recovery from a fault, not only the start button.

What you get

• Feasibility study: reach, cycle time, tolerance and part-mix assessment
• Cell layout and simulation in RobotStudio or the equivalent
• Custom end-of-arm tooling, fixtures and part presentation
• Offline programming, field teaching and commissioning
• Safety layout, guarding, PLC and HMI integration
• Run-off, operator training and documentation you keep

Questions we get

Which robot brands do you work with?

ABB, FANUC, KUKA and Universal Robots, chosen for the application and for what your maintenance team already supports.

Can a robot do the hand finishing we do today?

Often. A feasibility study on your actual part answers it before you commit to hardware.

What is laser ablation used for?

Removing coatings, paint, rust, oxide and mould release without media or chemicals — weld prep, tooling cleaning, selective stripping.

Do you program the robot, or do we?

Either. Cells are delivered programmed and run off; training covers teaching, editing and fault recovery if you want to own the programs.

Can you work on an existing cell?

Yes — retooling, new programs, safety upgrades, and returning an idle cell to production.

Some robotics projects are not shown here because they are under NDA.