Recording procedure of thermal field distribution and temperature evolution on ABB IRB 140 industrial robot

The procedure and the results of recording the thermal field distribution and the evolution of the temperature of some heat sources (electric motors areas) are presented in this paper. Heat distribution and temperature evolution of heat sources are needed to develop a theoretical model by finite element analysis (FEA) of the robot with the purpose of identifying thermal induced displacements and effects of robot's accuracy and repeatability. These data are required for the development of mathematical model able to compensate the errors generated by elastic thermal deformations. Thermal distribution recording and data processing was made with an infrared THERMACAM SC640 and THERMACAM RESEARCHER software and temperature evolution was recorded by motor mounted thermocouples connected with LABVIEW software via a data acquisition interface.