Assembly in Action: Simulation Software Speeds Design of Robotic Workcells

DELMIA enables Genesis Systems to simulate spot welding workcell operation. Photo courtesy Dassault Systemes

Genesis Systems uses DELMIA to verify that the robots will perform all the required motions without any interference. Photo courtesy Dassault Systemes

Genesis Systems Groupstarted as a one-man shop in 1983 and has grown to be one of North America’s largest robotic systems builders—with more than 4,000 system installations in 40 states and 12 countries. The company has expertise in the design, manufacture and implementation of robotic systems for welded and mechanical assemblies, as well as material handling, machine tending and finishing.

Genesis Systems’ success stems from its ability to deliver innovative robotic systems that operate as intended and meet all of their customers’ performance requirements. DELMIA Robotics 3D simulation software helps Genesis develop such systems and quicken their startup.

Made by Dassault Systemes, DELMIA Robotics enables Genesis Systems to simulate the operation of spot welding workcells, including complex tooling and fixture device clamps. Genesis uses DELMIA to verify that the robots will perform all the required motions without any interference. As a result, Genesis has cut its retool time at the build phase by up to 30 percent and reduced design changes by 65 percent.

After initially meeting with a customer, the Genesis sales and process engineering teams create an initial CAD drawing of robot placement. Next, the teams create 3D Extensible Markup Language files from the CAD drawing.

“DELMIA allows the entire team to watch a simulation video via a web meeting and experiment with the design right then and there,” says Matt Sidlinger, advanced engineering manager for Genesis Systems. “The software provides proof of concept and design.”

The Genesis design team also likes that DELMIA integrates with multiple CAD formats and interfaces with robots from a variety of suppliers. This latter feature saves Genesis money by eliminating the need to operate a separate version of DELMIA for each manufacturer’s robot.

“The library structure in DELMIA is cataloged more CAD-based than robot-based, making it very easy to select objects to build your own system and assign kinematics,” says Justan Each, simulation engineer for Genesis Systems. “This is a huge efficiency advantage compared to typical robot packages.”

DELMIA helps Genesis Systems improve customer relations. For example, recently a company that produces components for the mining industry was looking to add automation to its manual welding operations where weld time varied from two to 40 hours per component. Genesis proposed five custom automated machines and used DELMIA to generate 35 simulations per machine.

When the company saw the simulations, they were totally onboard, says Brian Ruhl, sales engineer for Genesis Systems. More importantly, the company placed the order within five weeks of the initial customer meeting.

Sidlinger says DELMIA enables Genesis Systems to develop a relatively detailed workcell concept within a few hours—compared to the several days it used to take them when using CAD or Office Live Package.

For more information on robotic simulation software, call 248-267-9696 or visit www.3ds.com.

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