Robotic welding is an automated industrial metal fabricating process that uses robotic equipment to join pieces of metal together. Metal welding is one of the most important and prominent metal fabrication processes. It is used to create furniture, structural supports for buildings, automobile components, hand tools, heating and cooling equipment and many more fabricated metal products.
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In many welding applications, such as making repairs on pipes and ducts in power plants or when welding machinery is being used to produce industrial art, welding requires the careful attention of a highly trained technician with intimate knowledge of the properties and behavior of alloyed metals when subject to heat. However, in highly standardized, highly repeatable operations such as automotive manufacturing, it can be more economical for companies to employ robotic welding equipment instead of people. Robotic welders can increase the quality, productivity and output of manufacturing operations. Also, welding can be dangerous in the context of high-output manufacturing floors. Robotic welders allow manufacturers to emphasize speedy output without having to make provisions for employee safety, as the only situation in which employees would be present on a robotic welding line would be to repair deactivated equipment.
There are varying degrees of robotic welding automation. Depending on the context, robotic welders can be nearly completely controlled by computer systems, as can be the case in automotive manufacturing, or they can require the attention of a trained technician to control their mechanisms. In the first case, robotic welders reduce a company's investment in employee compensation and workspace safety as well as eliminate the possibility of human error. In the latter case, robotic welders can allow a technician a safe distance from the high heat, dangerous gasses and other hazards produced during welding processes; they also allow technicians an extra measure of control over welding processes. Robots can be assigned to spot, arc, laser, TIG, MIG and other welding processes. Some models can complete welds in a third of the time it would take a human welder. Many robots are capable of motion that would be difficult or impossible for humans, which allows them to work more quickly than humans. They do not become tired and if properly maintained, their operational lifespans are often limited only by developments in technology that displace them.
