What RoboFeed Is Used For – Detailed Explanation

RoboFeed is primarily used to reliably transport welding wire over long and complex distances, especially in automated welding systems where the wire drum is placed far away from the robot.

The Core Problem: Wire Feeding Over Long Distances

In modern robotic welding cells, the wire drum is often positioned far from the robot for logistical or safety reasons.
The welding wire must then pass through a long wire conduit with numerous bends.

As the total bend angle increases, the friction inside the conduit increases exponentially.
Eventually, the wire stops feeding reliably:

  • Wire jerks or stalls
  • The arc becomes unstable
  • Spatter, pores, and weld defects occur
  • The robot stops due to feeding errors

This is exactly where RoboFeed comes into play.

What RoboFeed Does

RoboFeed is an electric auxiliary wire feeder (feed assist). It is typically mounted directly on or above the wire drum and:

  • pulls the wire out of the drum,
  • pushes it into the long conduit with adjustable force,
  • supports the robot’s main wire feeder (push–pull concept).

Technically, RoboFeed provides:
    •    A permanent, continuously adjustable pressure on the welding wire
    •    The wire is pressed to the outer wall of the conduit, preventing it from jamming inside
    •    A powerful 4-roller drive (approx. 100 W motor)
    •    Suitable for wire speeds up to 50 m/min and conduit lengths of 50 meters or more

In simple terms:
RoboFeed ensures that the wire moves smoothly through the conduit, even under difficult layout conditions.

Typical Use Cases

You use RoboFeed when:

Supporting the wire feed at the drum

RoboFeed sits directly on the wire drum and pushes the wire into the conduit.
The robot’s own feeder then only needs to fine-tune the feeding.

➜ Result:

  • Longer distances possible
  • More bends in the conduit
  • More stable wire feeding

Complex or tight welding cell layouts

Even when the conduit has multiple small-radius bends, RoboFeed keeps the wire moving.

As a standalone wire feeder

RoboFeed can also be used as a main feeder with constant speed, not only as a helper at the drum.
This is useful in special industrial applications outside welding as well.

How “intelligent” RoboFeed is

RoboFeed works without any electronic communication with the robot or the main wire feeder:

  • If the robot is not feeding wire, RoboFeed stops.
  • When the robot pulls wire, RoboFeed automatically delivers the correct amount.
  • It reacts mechanically to the tension and movement of the wire.

Optionally, it can also be configured to run with constant speed instead of constant assisting force.

Practical Benefits

Why do companies use RoboFeed?

  • Much longer wire feeding distances (50+ meters)
  • More conduit bends allowed without problems
  • Far fewer wire feeding errors
  • More stable welding arc, better weld quality
  • Reduced load on the robot’s main feeder
  • Faster wire setup when changing drums

RoboFeed significantly increases reliability and productivity in robotic welding.

RoboFeed vs. RoboFeed WireManager

For clarity:

  • RoboFeed = the pure wire assist unit (focus on wire feeding)
  • RoboFeed WireManager = adds additional functionality such as
  • Drum level monitoring
  • Warnings for low wire levels
  • Data logging, statistics
  • Network communication (MQTT, email, etc., depending on version)

In short:

RoboFeed is used to ensure smooth, powerful, and reliable feeding of welding wire over long and challenging conduit distances, improving the stability of the welding process and reducing downtime caused by wire feeding problems.