I’m not a pro welder like Tay, but two things that seem to be missing for doing production pieces are a laser that can show an index mark for the parts to be fixtured on the table and a built in camera that could record a photo of a properly fixtured piece. I’m thinking of periodic runs of multiple parts separated by months - just long enough to forget exact positioning and between the laser showing an index corner and a photo on screen showing what a properly fixtured piece looks like. I’m not talking about replacing skill… just not relying on memory after months. Also… why not a fume extractor (vacuum) near the arc? Guessing “mean time to a VEVOR clone” is one year from now 😉
A couple years back a co-worker of mine was looking for for the trigger lock on one of our Deltaweld 302s while working a rushed job. Foreman came by and asked what he was looking for. After hearing the words "trigger lock" he immediately replied "Or just f**kin hold the trigger already..." and walk off. On this day I started to comprehend the concept of "time is money". This Co-Bot is cool, but damn this thing is "money and time". Teaching someone to see a good weld from a bad one comes naturally when learning to weld. Plus when the Co-Bot breaks down you now don't have a robot or "weld tech" welding. Best to just pay a good welder to weld parts in my opinion. For what its worth I am a Miller guy lol.
The thing with the robot is you can have the skilled welder setting up several weldments while the robot is welding. It’s not necessarily taking the the welders job but increasing the workload he can do. We have a Cobot at out workshop and it works alongside the Boilermakers. With the skills shortage we are having it really boosts production.
I wait until we get to the time when I create welds in Solidworks on the part. Insert that file into the robot, the robot just camera scans the part in the fixture and starts making the exact welds I designed in the part on the Solidworks.
We have a Cobot at our workshop and it’s great for our production parts. The longer and more complex the weld the better. Welding around bosses and the like, it does a perfect job.
Manufacturing in multiple piece x 00's or 000's is the area this will be used. It is no different to the spot welders in Auto making or frame welders in motorcycle or bicycle manufacturing where 1000 repeat welds are performed each day. And yes, you will make a person semi redundant but you will have an operator or another robotic arm loading and removing the work pieces and an operator at the end checking parts. It is a way of keeping costs down to allow continued manufacturing in location instead of buying everything from low cost countries where skills and quality may not be what it needs to be just to get low cost.
I don't remember who said it but just remember "oh, robots go on vacation!" If something breaks and it is 2 weeks to get parts in, that robot is now on vacation.
Well, any machine could breakdown, but that’s no reason to use them. It’s the productivity improvement that’s the benefit of a robot. Plus, it may breakdown once in several years. How many, toilet, lunch breaks, sick days, holidays is a welder going to have in that same timeframe? It’s doesn’t replace a skilled worker, it just increases the productivity of that worker.
Given that we have LIDAR sensors in our mobile phones, that can accurately "see" the 3D space, I don't think we are that far off from robots "understanding" what you have set up on the fixture table. At the very least, we are very close to collision detection and everytime the operator tries to send that machine into crashing into the double I-Beam on the table the robot will get very Disturbed and play "**** I won't do what you tell me!" And just that simple, we have created our first cussing robot... (which will have a personality crisis and start drinking)
Wow that's very interesting and very informational video today Tay. Can't wait to see more updates an projects and many more videos soon my friends. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friends. Fab On. Weld On. Keep Making. God bless.
I don't know what you pay but I'm a Tig welder and I make no where near 6 figures lol I've worked in fab shops and production shops. Most I've made a year was 52k a year as an uncertified welder with sanitary welding experience. On a side note, need a welder?
the reality is, having something that can bang out the same welds on the same parts over and over, isn't a bad thing. it frees the mostly-bag-of-water to do more interesting and intricate work while the mundane can be handled by something capable of it. It's not all that different between an apprentice welder and a master welder, or an apprentice/master classification in any trade. the other key component is, the part(s) to be welded have to be fixtureable. you're not stuffing that thing inside some roll cage and having it go to town welding up around every tube all at once.
It’s really meant for repetitive work. So shops that make sinks, as an example, would find this very useful, if it TIG welds. I can think of a lot of uses for it. But you need to do enough work.
I think CoBots are going to be a game changer for small to mid-sized businesses. I run a small assembly and manufacturing business. We have some items that we assemble 4000 pcs per year. We are looking at a CoBot for things like this, things that are repetitive. It can free up a skilled person to do more valuable tasks. We are starting to bring more of our steel fab in-house and added a 4X8 ShopSabre Sidekick 8, 6’ press brake, a timesaver sander. Looking to make things faster and easier. I do feel for a small shop like ours or a custom shop like yours an IPG Laser welder would be more valuable, these are simple to learn and easy to use, and reduce a lot of clean up while making amazing looking welds.
As a person with a degree/degrees it makes me sad that colleges have failed to provide plenty of trained craftsman (ie welders and fabricators). Sure you can learn about "Womens Studies" and "Under Water Basket Weaving" but really we should be focused on business needs...
Nope we have a dozen on our shop floor. Welding assemblies for Tesla and Honda. Once you get past the setup tip changes and the odd birds nest it's smooth sailing.
Only good if you have 5 or more items and need a constant weld look like a assembly line. The operator still has to be there for the setup and finnish.
A question that will reveal my ignorance: can the resulting welds be relied on to always have good penetration? I’m wondering if a skilled manual welder will make adjustments to ensure a good weld, while the robot will just run along without noticing variations in, say, how well the metal was prepped or some other factor that is affecting the weld. Again, if this is a stupid question, I plead ignorance!
Idk. Maybe the robot needs a distance move and measure function to still traverse the distance but adjust for bad alignment if the work piece wasn't mounted correctly? They should make a PCIe slot for computer gaming graphics card of your choice to train artificial intelligence. A gaming computer has quite a bit of processing power these days, and they are quite affordable because it's a mass produced item, compared to these special welding robot unit they sell for near 100 thousand. Nvidia is quite long on there way with AI. I believe one day someone will make you able to expand such a machine with a regular graphics card (GPU) taken from the computer store shelves for the AI
But this could put me out of my job. Oh hell.... But can it clean spatter off and grind certain sections flush, to fit with the next part, file deburr the edges, and re-tap threaded holes out. NO.
Like Tay implies - this thing can lay a bead, but as they say in here - that's only like 10% of your job. Measuring, cutting, grinding, and thinking - this one doesn't do that. The world is always going to need people who are smart and get stuff done.
No, It will not steal your job. But it will reduce the job to manage and refill the robot. And save you from getting cross-eyed and back problems from doing the same repetative motions all day ....
95k great for medium to large businesses looking for a semi automated welding solution. That said, 95k is pretty steep for what is essentially a welding table with a beefy welder and a 4-5 axial robot arm with some smart software. They know they've got something no one else has and they're banking on it as long as they still can. You'll be seeing more of these pretty soon and for a lower price.
@@ruben9912 The rep explained it well - cycle time is better with this and it can increase the productivity of an existing skilled welder especially for complex welds that a human has to change positioning of the piece. A business will look at this not so much as capital cost but avoided labor cost - keep one good welder busy and avoid hiring two other less skilled welders to do the simple stuff.
@@stevestroh1891 totally fair statement but pretty much what I said, it's meant for larger businesses who generally won't blink an eye at such an expense. That said, the components don't really make up the end cost as is pretty usual when it comes to products aimed at efficient manufacturing or just industry in general. This might be out of reach at the moment for smaller businesses and operations but there will come a time when these things too become more affordable as overseas producers look to undercut a new market. Heck, a local artist got hold of an old 5 axial arm from a car manufacturing plant and turned it into a giant 3d printer that can extrude entire pieces of furniture with repeatable precision. That's not entirely so far off from this and the guy pretty much did that in his garage.
"can't find welders" should be reworded to "can't find welders at the price we want to pay" why would would I work there for $20/hr if i can work ANYWHERE for $19/hr
Well, it really that not very many people are going g into welding these days, so yes, there is a known shortage. And remember, many companies need welders with some welding education, and experience as well. All the high end welding work is in the aerospace industry. But there and for navy work as another example, the standards for welders is very high.
A friend of mine owns a company that sells aftermarket bumpers and armor for the off road and over landing market. They started using robots similar to this for the reasons stated, they can't find qualified welders that want to do this work. So for the small parts, they will fixture up a bunch of pieces and let the robot do it. For the bigger pieces that require thought and adjustment, that's where the human element is necessary.
