Will Welding Robots Replace Welders? Results of Polls and Experiments
Robotic company, ABAGY, and the welder community Weld.Com, which unites thousands of welders in the U.S., conducted a joint experiment.
Posted: December 19, 2022
Austin Hargett (aka Dr. Weldz), a welder with 14 years of experience and one of the members of Weld.com, tested the ABAGY solution for robot control. He defined welding parameters and put the robot to work without any special knowledge in robotics.
“Welding machines are changing. Technology is changing. My job is a constant evolution. As a welder, I believe that I need to learn something new every day. And I agree with ABAGY that robots can be a new effective tool for welders. I’m really impressed with how simple and easy it was to get the robot up and running.”, – Austin Harget
Also, a poll was conducted among the welding community. Out of 1,500 voters, 43% think robots present a great opportunity for better efficiency.
Dmitry Golitsyn, co-founder and CTO at ABAGY, explained: “Every single day we hear from manufacturers that they can’t find people. According to American Welding Society Research, more than 40% of welders are over 45 years old. To address this welder shortage, we can help people who are already in the industry become more productive with new technology”.
Kate Degai, CMO at ABAGY, said: “There’s a prevailing preconception that robots will replace people. This is exactly what hinders the development of robotics. It is impossible to install robots if there are no people inside the factory who are ready to work with them and feel that this helps them to increase their own efficiency. Therefore, we are open to a dialogue with the welding community”.
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