In the summer of 2022, at Tianjin Rongcheng United Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd., there were two tall and thin orange human-like figures standing aside conveying chain of No.1 rolling workshop. Not afraid of high temperature steel coil at hand, they raised the painting gun no matter day or night to spray product information onto the steel coil. At the same time, on the platform at the gate of the steelmaking plant of ShanSteel Group Rizhao plant, three indefatigable tall silver-gray human-like figures, waving their strong arms day and night, quickly and accurately carried out insertion into the hot metal ladle on ladle tank, accurately and stably measured the hot metal temperature, and took out the intact hot metal samples. They are the intelligent robot systems independently developed by our company (SDM), aiming to replace operators with robots to undertake the heavy repetitive work in bad environment.
The intelligent spraying robot system is composed of industrial robot, spray gun box, spray feeding system, etc. The robot and pipe package are protected by high-temperature resistant materials, the spray gun box is equipped with laser range finder, striker, spray gun and other equipment, the spray feeding system is responsible for circulation supply of spray paint. The system has the functions of adjustable font size, spacing and line spacing, breakpoint continuous spraying, automatic cleaning of spray gun, self-circulation and anti-blocking of paint, self-mixing and anti-settling of paint, one-button ready position, collision&turn back, etc, which can adapt to the steel coil painting task of different specifications, ensure clear handwriting and beautiful font, and can leave steel coil in time in case of accident, protect robot itself and do not hinder steel coil transportation.
The intelligent temperature measuring and sampling robot system for hot metal tank adopts advanced and mature technologies such as industrial robot, machine vision, laser ranging, etc., and has the functions of automatic operation of hot metal ladle in place, automatic installation and removal of probe, accurate positioning of hot metal level center, accurate measurement of hot metal headroom, adaptive probe insertion depth, automatic turn back in case of collision, etc., to ensure independent adaption to different hot metal levels and accurate measurement of hot metal temperature, to obtain qualified hot metal samples.
The application of intelligent robots in metallurgical industry is an important part of the completion of unmanned, intelligent and green in metallurgical industry, and is a key link in the improvement of intelligent manufacturing in iron and steel enterprises. Adhering to this purpose, SDM has further strengthened the research and development of intelligent robot systems, including the unloading and stacking robot, intelligent robot sample preparation system, fully automatic packaging and stacking robot system of sodium pyrosulfite in desulfurization workshop, desulfurization and slag removal intelligent robot system, refining furnace temperature measurement and sampling robot system, intelligent robot inspection system of coke oven basement, Intelligent robot inspection system for belt conveyor, as well as intelligent robot system for wagon tippler cleaning.
Intelligent robots completely replace human labors’ work, liberate operator from heavy, repetitive and bad environment post, improve the success rate and accuracy rate of work, reduce the rate of production accidents and the probability of occupational diseases, reduce the cost and increase efficiency of steel enterprises, improve the enterprise image, and lay a foundation for the intelligent, unmanned and green transformation of steel enterprises. Although the research and development of intelligent robot application in metallurgical industry has a long way to go and many difficulties, SDM will constantly continue to follow the right path and contribute to the bright-new future of metallurgical industry.
