Advanced Welding Robot System to Ship Hull Assembly

Robotics automation has increasingly been used in Japanese shipbuilding companies in accordance with the change of the circumstances i.e. a decreasing of labor force and wage hikes, especially for arc welding at hull block assembly stage. In order to get good cost performance for the investment, the hull production system should be reviewed as suitable to the robot system, and it is necessary to modify and add some functions to the standard model of welding robots. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI) has developed a new production system "Unit panel and slit process", which is suitable for production automation, and has developed a fully automated robot welding system at the assembly stage. The system includes an automatic material transfer system, robot positioning system and NC (off-line) teaching system. The system has been successfully applied at IHI shipyard.