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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
FEBRUARY
2017
The robot has effectively replaced the
manually driven and monotonous process
of refurbishing the track shoes with an
automated, end-to-end mechanism that
requires little human involvement.
The technological advancement in
refurbishing track shoes will significantly
reduce refurbishment costs for clients,
improve product quality, and cut the
turnaround time it takes to rebuild track
shoes, thereby generating financial benefits
for customers through reducing downtime.
“Before the robot was introduced, it
took five days for two people to manually
refurbish the tracks for a D11 bulldozer. The
robot does the same work in 20 hours, with
one operator.
“There are many competitors in the
market that provide the same service. It’s
very important for us to be faster and more
price-competitive than our competitors,”
said Sean Walsh, senior general manager at
Barloworld Equipment.
People now do 5% of what they used
to do manually, reducing exposure to heat
and potential injuries, as the robot does
the welding and also handles materials
(steel bars) used to refurbish bulldozer
track shoes. Now the Barloworld Equipment
operators can focus on the more complex
tasks they are trained for.
Currently the robot refurbishes track
shoes for D9, D10 and D11 Caterpillar
bulldozers. In future, it will have the
capacity to refurbish track shoes for D7
and D8 Caterpillar bulldozers.
“We can repair track shoes and the
track links, enabling our customers to get
a second life on their machines. When the
machines are parked due to inactivity or
breakdowns, our customers lose money.
The short turnaround time will reduce
downtime for our customers to enable them
to make money,” said Walsh.
How does the robot work?
The robot, nicknamed ‘Tokolosie’, has two
arms. The first arm (the gripper) specialises
in handling materials, cutting worn-out
grouser bars from track shoes and placing
new grouser bars onto the track shoes.
The second arm (the welder) specialises
in welding the new grouser bar onto the
track shoe.
When the ‘gripper’ has completed its
task, it hands over the rebuilt track shoe
to the ‘welder’ to weld the new grouser bar
firmly onto the track shoe.
The two arms work in a synchronised
mechanical manner and take 14 minutes to
complete the whole refurbishing process
for a single-track shoe. They then repeat the
process in 14-minute cycles.
Previously workers had to use the
oxyfuel cutting system to remove worn-
out grouser bars from track shoes. A new
grouser bar was then manually welded
onto the track shoe. However, re-grousing a
track shoe is impossible if the wear on the
grouser bar is beyond 80%. If the grouser
bar is beyond the minimum wear rate, the
entire track shoe has to be discarded as
refurbishment cannot be done.
“The price of re-grousing was more
expensive than the price of competitors’
new track shoes. Now we can re-grouse
more cheaply than our competitors,”
explains Burger.
Tokolosie was developed by ABB
Robotics, a leading Zurich-based supplier
of industrial robots and robot software.
The development of the end-to-end re-
grousing system started in October 2014
and the robot was delivered to Barloworld
Equipment’s facility in Middelburg,
Mpumalanga, in May 2016 for installation
and commissioning.
“As Barloworld Equipment, we would like
to extend our gratitude to our Middelburg
ROBOT
gives bulldozers
NEW LEASE
on life
Barloworld Equipment Southern
Africa has unveiled a state-
of-the-art robotic system that
has modernised the way the
refurbishment of track shoes for
Caterpillar bulldozers is done.
team and ABB for a job well done in
designing and commissioning the robot.
The commissioning of the robot is in line
with our strategy of improving safety for
our staff and customers. We aim to achieve
zero fatalities and a less than 0,05 Lost
Time Injury Frequency Rate by 2020.
“The reduction of human involvement
in the refurbishment process will go a long
way towards helping us achieve our safety
objectives. The end-to-end re-grousing
process will reduce human involvement in
material handling and reduce the exposure
of humans to heat and accidents,” said
Lesibana Ledwaba, divisional executive
director for strategy, risk & operational
transformation at Barloworld Equipment.