History of Robotic Welding and its Extraordinary Benefits!

History is always beautiful and gives us insight into the past and provides us with a broad view of the future. The history of welding robots is no different; it&#;s an interesting tale of technological development and great innovation in welding.

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Robots made for the industrial manufacturing environment were first used for welding. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution and ongoing technological advancement, robots have become more common in many applications. There are a lot of things that have hands of robotic welding from the car we drive to a chair we sit in, but how did we transform from a simple human to a welding robot?

When the industrial revolution began in the 28th century, most products began to be manufactured in large factories. Originally, items were produced by individuals, and then they were handled by craftsmen in shops. It wasn&#;t until that Henry Wilde used the electric source to form the first form of electric welding, and from there, different types of welding processes such as Arc welding, TIG welding, and others started to gain more popularity and began entering different industries.

Welding Robot at Jantz Facility

Things began to change in when General Motors used industrial robots for the first time in the automobile industry. They gave it the name UNIMATE, and it performed spot welding on vehicle parts moving through the assembly line. UNIMATE was invented by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger; then the rest was history, and several automakers adopted GM&#;s approach and began employing robots for welding. It was at that moment that industries realized the advantages of welding robots.

Future of robotic welding

The use of welding robots is increasing tremendously at a faster rate. In today&#;s world, due to the advancement of robotic welding technology, many robotic welding systems are used for a different variety of welding applications.

Although automation welding has no certain future, the cost of robotic welding is drastically decreasing. This paints a clear picture of how automated welding has become more affordable for small-scale industries than for big companies.

Benefits of Robotic Welding

Robotic welding technology has advanced significantly since its entry into the industry world in . Manufacturing companies are starting to understand the potential advantages of robotic welding to stay competitive in a world where technology is developing at a rapid rate.

Timesaving: robotic welding in some applications takes less time to move the welding torch from one seam to another within the same workplace than manual welding. And because a part is being loaded while one is being welded time is further reduced.

Consistency: Compared to manual welding, every part welded robotically will be virtually identical. This means the length of welds and size will be consistent in a way a human cannot match.

Safety: While welding, there is more chance of human exposure to toxic fumes and hazardous environments. With robotic welding applications, this danger can be prevented.

Does manual welding have any future?

In some situations, like quick changes in the welding process, we must take the skill of manual welding over robotic welding. Robots are still not developed to adapt to a fast environment.

Pros and Cons of Manual Welding

Even the welding robots is rapidly increasing in the industry; there is still some application for manual welding in the industry. A human welder still has a lot of skills to bring to the table.

PROS
Flexible -Adapting ability
Interchangeable- Any welding expert can take over the work of an absent one.
Safety: A human welder can spot a malfunctioning machine.

CONS
Unfortunately, even if there are some advantages to manual welding. But on the other hand, there are more disadvantages than these advantages.

Risk- Chances of human errors and injuries are high
Less accurate- Robot is more accurate than a human
Less Productivity-Human welders work slower than welding robots and have a lower output.

Conclusion

According to statistics, there were roughly robots in operation in North America in . As time goes on, more and more businesses are switching to robotic welding due to the low cost and time-intensive process. Industrial robotic welding makes a high quality, precise weld, and less error in the final workpiece compared with the old welding processes. In a nutshell, we can say that robotic welding has brought about a lot of changes in the industrial world.

Is robot welding something new? Can robot welding meet all kinds of welding needs? Does robot welding only have benefits? Will welding robots replace humans in welding work? If you are clear with the evolution of robotic welding, you will know these answers are no. Today, we will trace the history of robot welding, analyze the changes that robot welding has brought to the welding field, and predict the future trend of robot welding.

Content:

I. A Brief History of Robot Welding

II. Changes that Robot Welding Brought

III. Future Prediction of Robot Welding

IV. Megmeet Robotic Welding Machine

I. A Brief History of Robot Welding

In , robot Unimation 001, invented by George Devol and Joseph Engelberger, performed spot welding work in General Motors&#; automobile plant - the UNIMATE, which is the first time that robot welding came to the public.

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In the second half of the 20th century, electric welding processes became very highly automated. Special robots have been developed that operate without human involvement. In the s, robotic welding systems were widely praised in the automotive industry and began to gain popularity.

Subsequently, robot welding was widely used in many other fields such as metal manufacturing, greatly improving the production efficiency of the manufacturing industry. More productive machines such as robots with advanced motion control and 3D vision are being introduced.

 

II. Changes that Robot Welding Brought

As welding processes of manual welding are dangerous and the welding qualities are not guaranteed, welding work is time-consuming and laborious, and an engineering project can take many welders months or even years to complete. However, the application of industrial robots in the welding field completely solved these problems in industrial production and fabrication.

1. Higher welding efficiency

Welding robot will not be tired, need no rest, and can carry out 24 hours of high-intensity repetitive work, so their efficiency is higher and working hours is shorter as compared to manual welding.

2. Higher Welding Accuracy

Manual welding is affected by many factors such as the welding site environment and the welder's physical condition, so the welding accuracy cannot be guaranteed. However, robot welding can work without interference when the machine quality is good, and the accuracy and consistency of welding quality are ensured.

3. Higher Welding Security

Welding is a dangerous process with a high injury rate. Welding robots use a variety of tools other than manual equipment to weld, which greatly reduces the risk of injury during welding, so using robots instead of humans can improve welding safety.

 

4. Lower Welding Cost

With the evolution of robot technology, it seems reasonable to use robots rather than humans in production, in terms of cost. This is mainly due to the higher production efficiency and accuracy of robot welding, reducing the cost of working hours and rework costs. On the other hand, the use of welding robots can save welder training costs.

5. Less Resource Waste

Robot welding has higher accuracy and welding performance is high, thus the finished welds need less rework, greatly reducing the waste of resources.

6. Replace Part Welding Work

Industrial robots integrated with electric welding machines can replace human welders for welding work, but robots are essentially machines operated by intelligent systems, requiring professional operators to program the controllers, set new procedures for the equipment, change process parameters, and move the robotic arms as needed. As a result, robotic welding will replace some but not all welding jobs.

III. Future Prediction of Robot Welding

Although robots can complete resistance welding, arc welding, argon arc welding, MIG welding, spot welding, laser welding, plasma welding, and other welding processes, for some types of welding needs, manual welding is still very needed, robot welding can not meet all welding requirements. In the need to quickly change the welding process, the need to adapt to the situation, professional welders are still the best choice. Robots are not advanced enough to adapt so quickly to the needs of the jobs.

Robot arc welding will be used more and more widely. You can't deny the fact that it can produce a lot of products through improved automation. Things can only get better and faster from here. But don't worry, real on-site welders, are still needed, as there is plenty of room for old-fashioned welders.

At present, robot welding is only a part of various industrial welding work projects. However we expect that as innovation continues, the use of robot technology will increase. Expected industrial innovations are ease of use and the ability to work with other machines. 

IV. Megmeet Robotic Welding Machine

Robotic welding is gaining more popularity in industrial manufacturing and may replace multiple manual welding work. If you want to buy robotic welding equipment or machines to maximize robotic welding efficiency, you can take MEGMEET &#;one of the best welding machine designers and manufacturers in China, committed to providing high-performance industrial heavy-duty inverter Co2/MMA/MIG/MAG/TIG welding equipment and robotic welding power source for customers&#; welding machine into consideration, and consult Megmeet's professional sales manager by clicking: https://www.megmeet-welding.com/en/contacts. If you want to learn more welding tips, you can collect Megmeet News Center Page or follow our Linkedin page. 

 

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