The benefits of robot assisted welding were outlined to local businesses at a showcase event in Ballymena hosted by Northern Regional College. Among those attending were Hutchinson Engineering, Maine Group, Quad-X and McAuley Engineering.
Alan Reid, Principal Lecturer for Industry Engagement at Northern Regional College, explained that the primary aim of the project is to improve productivity.
“There are two variants of the assisted welding robot. The first makes use of a collaborative robot which functions as a part loader and manipulator, while a manual weld operator holds a welding torch in a static position – with scope for minor adjustments.
“The second makes use of a collaborative robot as a part loader and manipulator, while an automated welding robot carries out welds,” he said.
Alan explained how businesses could benefit from the project: “For both manual and automated welding processes, there is an improved quality of weld, reduction in cycle time, minimum tooling costs and a consistency in technique, all of which can help give businesses in the fabrication sector a competitive advantage.”
As part of the project, Andrew Schofield, Senior Manufacturing Engineer at Queen’s University demonstrated a case study of the offline programming and simulation of a collaborative robot assisting an industrial robot. This highlighted offline programming for a highly realistic simulation of the physical world and the simulation of the control interface between the two robots.
The Robotic Assisting Welding project was funded by the Department for the Economy Connected programme. Connected is designed to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange between academia and small to medium businesses.
Universities and Further Education colleges in Northern Ireland have access to a vast pool of talent, expertise, research capability and world class facilities and can be a valuable resource for local businesses who connect with them. Northern Regional College, along with the other five FE colleges, Queen’s University, Ulster University, and the Open University, are all part of this programme.
For information on the Robotic Assisted Welding, click here or email alan.reid@nrc.ac.uk
To learn more about how Northern Regional College’s Business Engagement team can help your business, contact business.engagement@nrc.ac.uk.