“New lamps for old!” a method to rejuvenate old robots through the use of a simple set of micro-controller based control boards to replace outdated control systems

The paper describes the design, development, testing and use of a micro-controller and PC based control system, which was used to repair and enhance an ASEA IRB6 welding robot in the authors’ laboratory. The principles described can be applied to any similar age robot and provide a low cost route to revitalise any working robot hardware that is limited by an outdated control system. The proposed approach addresses a common problem within many manufacturing systems operating in industry.