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This paper presents an analysis of the potential for automation of the hot die forging process, considering the types of forging units used and the feed and material handling strategies. The research is based on our own experience and R&D work related to the implementation, design, and testing of robotic cells for the production of die forgings, including high-volume production (≥0.5 million forgings per year). The paper focuses on comparing forging presses and hammers, taking into account the number of robots in the forging cell and the method of holding the semi-finished products - both through direct robotic gripping and by leaving the workpiece in the tool cells. The paper emphasizes the important role of FEM simulation software and robot trajectories in the design and optimization of robotic forging processes. The most typical cell configurations are presented, including two-robot systems used on presses and hammers. It has been demonstrated that forging presses favor the use of multi-robot systems (two robots per forging line) without holding the workpiece, which enables the simultaneous execution of several operations and increases automation efficiency. Hammer automation, on the other hand, requires limiting the number of robots (1-2) and adapting the gripping strategy to the dynamic nature of the process, which impacts the design of the cells and the sequence of operations. Effective automation of forging processes depends on the optimal selection of machine type, number of robots, and method of batch manipulation during the forging production process.
Keywords: Precision forging, hammers and presses, forging automation, robotic forging© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.