Robotic Sealant Application

The evolution of Robotics Technology has made the automatic application of sealants a reality and thus a necessity to maintain a competitive edge. Justification was made to design and install automated systems to account for nearly 70% of the sealing requirement for the General Motors new C/K Truck. A CAD/CAM simulation was completed generating an optimum robot layout as well as system design requirements. One of the innovations implemented as a part of this system was a robotically-applied cosmetic bead of sealant. To insure quality application to 100% of the truck box seams, techniques such as: analog sealant flow control, compliant sealant gun nozzles, and computer vision location of box corners were developed.