Automating Laser Cleaning: Robots, Cobots, Crawlers and Stationary Systems
A handheld laser in skilled hands is flexible: the operator reads the surface and adjusts. But some work doesn't need flexibility. It needs the same result on every part, every shift, without someone holding a handset for eight hours. That's where automation earns its place.
Netalux builds its systems to work both ways. Here's what the automated options look like, how they connect, and when they make sense.
What Netalux offers for automation
Stationary systems on all four models. Netalux builds stationary versions of Needle, Kamino, Jango and Dagger, from 100 to 4000 W, air- or water-cooled, with fibre lengths similar to the handheld models. They use a MODBUS/TCP control interface with an industrial plug, an IP4X rating and rack-mount dimensions. Cleaning cycles can be driven by CAD: load the drawing, and the system cleans exactly where it should. Emission life runs up to 80,000 hours, with spare parts and maintenance contracts behind it. Netalux's own software, hardware and electronics engineers work the system into your process.
Kamino and Dagger: robots, cobots and crawlers. Both also integrate into robotic systems, cobots and crawlers, with support from Netalux's engineering team. The same laser that works handheld can be mounted on a robot arm, a collaborative robot or a crawler.
For operators, the stationary systems keep the handheld user experience, so a crew that already runs a Needle or Jango by hand is at home with the automated version.
From our own projects: Jango on a robot. This spring and summer, Laserverse ran a Jango 1000 on a six-axis robotic arm over Modbus, inside an enclosed laser cell, for a proof-of-concept project at an Ontario manufacturer. The same Jango was later tied into a CNC machine's control. Netalux also runs Jango on cobot setups for cleaning-rate trials at its headquarters in Belgium. In practice, Jango automates just as well as Kamino and Dagger.
Four ways automation shows up
1. Robot cell
A six-axis robot carries the laser head along a programmed path around a part fixed in a cell. It suits complex parts that need the same cleaning every time: weld zones before joining, bonding surfaces, coating removal on specific features. The cell typically sits inside a Class 1 enclosure with interlocked doors, so people outside it don't need laser eyewear.
Netalux fit: Kamino, Jango or Dagger, depending on the coating, the area and whether you need an anchor profile. Our own robot cell ran a Jango 1000.
2. Cobot station
A collaborative robot is smaller, quicker to program and easier to redeploy. It suits shorter runs and shops without a robotics team. Because the laser is Class 4, the cobot still works inside a guarded or enclosed area. "Collaborative" refers to the robot, not to the laser hazard.
Netalux fit: Kamino for most cobot work; Jango where coverage matters more.
3. Crawler
A crawler carries the laser head across a large surface: a tank wall, a hull, a structural member. It holds a steady speed and stand-off distance over areas that would exhaust a handheld operator. The operator supervises from a distance.
Netalux fit: Dagger where the surface needs coating removal and an anchor profile for recoating; Kamino for lighter coatings and cleaning.
4. Production line
A stationary laser sits at a fixed point in the line, and parts pass through on a conveyor, fixture or rotary table. It suits high volumes of the same part with the same contaminant: pre-weld oxide removal, post-weld cleaning, mould and tooling cleaning between cycles.
Netalux fit: a stationary system on the base model that suits the work: Needle for precision, Kamino for mixed detail and coverage, Jango for large high-volume surfaces, Dagger for coating removal with an anchor profile.
How the pieces connect
An automated laser cleaning system has four parts:
The laser source and head: the Netalux system.
The motion: robot, cobot, crawler, gantry or conveyor, usually supplied by your integrator or robot vendor.
The control link: MODBUS/TCP over Ethernet, an industrial protocol most PLCs and robot controllers already support, so the laser and the line or robot controller can exchange control and status signals. For simpler cells, a single trigger can be enough (see below).
The cell: enclosure, interlocks, extraction and fixtures.
The simplest link: a trigger
Not every cell needs a full data connection. When the same Jango was tied into a CNC machine, the link was a 24 V trigger: the CNC powers a relay, and the relay closes the laser's own trigger circuit, the same one the foot pedal uses. The machine's program decides when the laser fires.
One rule matters here: never feed an outside 24 V supply into the laser's trigger circuit. It isn't referenced to the laser's internal 24 V system and can damage the control electronics. Use a relay or contact that the controller switches, and let the laser supply its own 24 V. When the line needs to choose programs or read status, step up to MODBUS/TCP.
Laserverse works with your integrator on the laser side. We supply the Netalux system and the laser parameters proven on your parts, coordinate the communication setup with Netalux's engineering team, and help plan extraction and the enclosure.
Estimating cleaning rate in an automated setup
With a robot, cobot or crawler, cleaning rate is simple arithmetic:
cleaning rate (mm²/s) = traverse speed (mm/s) × effective cleaning width (mm)
For example, a head moving at 40 mm/s with a 20 mm effective cleaning width covers 800 mm² every second, or just under 3 m² an hour of laser-on time.
Two things move that number more than anything else:
Coating thickness. A thicker coat needs a slower pass, more passes or more pulse energy. Measure the thickness on your parts, including the thickest spots, before you compare results with a trial done elsewhere.
Working distance. The cleaning width and energy density depend on how far the head sits from the surface. Measure it and hold it constant; a robot path that drifts closer or farther changes the result.
When a trial on one part and production on another don't match, check thickness and distance first.
When automation pays off
High, steady volume of similar parts
Tight repeatability, where every part must meet the same specification
Large surfaces where a handheld operator would tire and results would vary
Hazardous or awkward locations, where keeping people away from the work matters
Labour constraints, where skilled operators are hard to find or keep
When it doesn't
Varied, low-volume work. Programming each new part can take longer than cleaning it by hand.
An unproven process. Automating settings that haven't been proven on real parts automates the problems too. Start with sample tests or a handheld pilot.
No space or budget for the cell. A robot without a proper enclosure and extraction isn't a finished system.
Lessons from our robot cell
Measure extraction at the nozzle, not at the extractor. Pre-separators, spark arrestors and long runs of corrugated hose all cost airflow. In our cell, the airflow at the nozzle was less than a third of what the extractor produced at the unit. Short runs, rigid pipe where possible, and an extractor sized for the losses fixed it. Don't remove the pre-separator to gain airflow; ablation needs it.
Plan for more capture on a robot than by hand. An operator moves the nozzle to chase the plume; a robot can't. The right airflow depends on the laser, the coating, the nozzle design, the distance to the work and the cell itself, so we set the target for each cell and verify it at the nozzle.
Balance the cell's air. An enclosed cell that exhausts far more air than it lets in starves the extraction. Size the cell's air inlets to match, and run a smoke test to see where the plume actually goes.
Monitor the extractor. Our extractor reported its status over Modbus TCP, including the differential pressure across the filters, so the cell controller could see a loaded filter before capture fell off.
Plan the laser programs. The robot calls laser programs by number, so decide early how many recipes the part family needs and how they'll be named and stored. Offline path-programming software saves a lot of time on the robot.
Test before production. Signage, interlocks and a laser emission test with your Laser Safety Officer come before the first production part.
Safety in automated cells
Automation moves the operator away from the beam, but the laser is still Class 4. Plan for an enclosure or controlled area, interlocks that stop the laser when a door opens, laser-rated viewing windows if people need to watch, extraction at the head, and a Laser Safety Officer who signs off the setup. We cover enclosures in detail in a separate post.
Where to start
Most automation projects start the same way: a sample test on real parts, then a handheld or rental trial to prove settings, then the cell design. Read Mobile or Stationary? if you're still deciding.
Book a sample test, or call +1 (705) 805-2737 to talk to us about your line, your robot or your integrator.
