In order to achieve consistently good results in manual welding, skilled workers need not only physical commitment, but above all a great deal of experience. However, companies can rely less and less on the expertise of experienced welders. More and more qualified employees are retiring, while there is a shortage of new recruits.

Automation offers an answer to this challenge. The use of welding cells in particular is a proven means of automating processes. However, this is usually associated with high investment costs and considerable programming effort. In addition, such permanently installed layouts take up a lot of space in production areas that are already tight.

They are often not an option for small and medium-sized companies with small batch sizes. Flexible, easy-to-program and affordable alternatives that give companies of all sizes access to automated production processes are therefore in demand.

Alternatives for pipe welding

Costly, difficult to implement and program - the founders of the start-up WeldingDroid wanted to dispel these common reservations about automation with automated solutions for welding pipes and tanks. They saw great potential for optimization here.

Welding pipes by hand is not only physically demanding due to the ergonomically unfavorable working position, the result is also heavily dependent on the welder's experience. Under these conditions, it is difficult to achieve the expected consistent quality. In the food and pharmaceutical industries in particular, flawless, non-oxidized weld seams are essential.

With the X1 and WS robot models, WeldingDroid has developed two solutions that break new ground in pipe welding and both significantly simplify and shorten the process. This means that both TIG and MIG and MAG welding of pipes and tanks can be automated profitably.

The machines are suitable for processing pipes and tanks made of steel, stainless steel or aluminum with a diameter of 100 to 3,000 mm. They deliver consistently flawless results without requiring the operator to have any special skills. The X1 model for mobile use and the WS workshop model are based on the same operating principle: the operator places the pipe to be welded in the holder, positions the electrode over the gap using a controller, selects the appropriate program on the display and starts it.

Independent work

The machine then works on its own. During the welding process, the pipe is automatically rotated at the required speed, while the welding machine always maintains its position and welds the product from above. The voltage of the arc is constantly measured and the height adjustment is automatically regulated in the event of deviations. The result is a flawless weld seam that can be reproduced at any time. With this mode of operation, the solution differs fundamentally from other automatic welding applications in which the welding device moves around the pipe.

Only the initial programming must be carried out by a specialist for each pipe type to be processed. However, neither AI nor robotics knowledge is required for this. In most cases, it is sufficient to set parameters such as the diameter of the pipe to be welded, the required wire feed and the wall thickness. The high level of complexity that may be required when setting the parameters has been reduced as far as possible in order to speed up the programming process. Further welding can then be carried out by unskilled workers. The welding processes are both simplified and significantly shortened with the new solutions. For example, users can complete a weld that would normally take 30 minutes in just six minutes.

Intelligent use of data for better results

The significant time savings are also thanks to the machine learning technologies with which the Danish start-up equips its welding solutions. The robot saves all the welding data recorded in real time, such as the diameter, wall thickness and temperature of the pipe, and uploads it anonymously to a cloud system. Thanks to the built-in SIM card, no WLAN connection is required for this. The system is constantly 'learning': if it recognizes that it has data that is similar to the task the user is working on, it makes suggestions for the optimum setting.

The automated welding process also offers the advantage of seamless documentation that complies with legal requirements. This means that the traceability required in food production is always guaranteed. Only quality-critical parameters such as the welding protocol or the necessary certificates relating to the machine used and the user are stored.

Up-and-coming robotics companies are proving that there is a need for improvement in the welding industry by combining human and machine thinking to enable innovative work processes. As the shortage of skilled workers is set to increase worldwide in the coming years, companies need to find answers to urgent questions today. One of these answers is automation.