The automotive industry has made significant advancements regarding the safety technology. Thus, airbags play a pivotal role in protecting passengers during accidents, therefore saving more lives and preventing serious injuries. The precise cutting of airbag textile materials is one of the important processes for ensuring the effectiveness and performance of such equipment. The aim of this work is to compare three scanning systems employed for CO2 laser cutting of airbag textile material in the automotive sector: (i) a plotter system (i.e., a traditional laser cutting setup with a fixed cutting bed); (ii) fixed 2D galvanometer scanner (GS), commonly used for laser cutting in more compact and automated environments; (iii) mobile 2D GS, with an increased portability and versatility in comparison to the previous solution. These three systems have been installed and utilized in an industrial facility for airbags manufacturing. The specific parameters, advantages and drawbacks of each system for the targeted application have been compared. Examples of applications are presented – from the industrial site where we have implemented and utilized them. The choice between different such scanning systems for laser manufacturing are discussed in the trade-off between quality and productivity.
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