Inrotech has received an order for an extensive set of welding robots for shipbuilding in the United States. The Inrotech-MicroTwin, Inrotech-Classic and Inrotech-Crawler were purchased by Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Miss., and will be used during construction of United States Coast Guard’s new Polar Security Cutter. The 460-foot vessel will support U.S. national interests in Arctic and Antarctic waters. Inrotech’s standard welding robots fits into Halter Marine’s production needs to efficiently weld the Polar Security Cutter along with a variety of ocean-going vessels.
“We are honored to be part of this strategic cooperation with Halter Marine,” said Thomas Bøgner, Sales Director of Inrotech. “To enhance robotic welding solutions with Halter Marine is an important step for both parties, and we are absolutely committed to nothing else than successful operation.
The robots will be integrated and implemented in the Halter marine’s production in order to reduce manhours, increase welding quality and improve productivity. Inrotech’s welding robots usually substitutes 4-5 welders per shift per robot.
Unique Mobile Welding Robots
Inrotech is a Danish company which is born out of the shipbuilding industry and today shipbuilding is still the main market. Instead of huge gantries with large and heavy semi-stationary robots, which were operating in dedicated production areas where the large components were transported in order to be welded, Inrotech chose the other way around: Making small, mobile robot solutions, which can be moved to or even into- the existing production layout.
Without compromising welding efficiency, this solution offered several advantages to the traditional gantry-based solutions: lower cost, less transport of large structures and flexibility to move to different working areas.
Inrotech’s Standard Products
Inrotech’s product-line consist of three standard welding robots. The first product, which has been in operation in shipyards around the world for almost a decade, is the Inrotech-Classic. It is intended for the welding of webs and bulkheads in the shipbuilding industry, yet it can be used for several other purposes as well.
The Inrotech-MicroTwin is a compact and light weight gantry with two welding robots, welding machines and a scanning system for identifying stiffeners on panels. It is specifically designed for the welding of micro panels, sub-assemblies and T-profiles in the shipbuilding industry.
Both robot solutions above are driven by the ‘SensLogic Technology’, representing today a unique technology platform with an unmatched simplicity and user friendliness. Besides being simple to use, you don’t have to transfer any CAD drawings or do any pre-programming, it can also to a large degree obtain tolerances as the reference is the object itself, and not a CAD drawing.
After having placed the panels in the working area; all that has to be done is to push the green start button!
The third product is the Inrotech-Crawler, which is designed for heavy industry for welding of high quality multipass welding’s on site in any position needed. The robot itself is a UR3, which is the smallest of Universal’s robot series.
The robot automatically identifies the welding groove by means of a line scanner and automatically calculates the number of passes, location of each pass, welding speed and weaving pattern; no matter position or plate thickness. Thereby variations in the groove geometry is compensated automatically. The unique technology behind is Inrotech’s own ‘WeldLogic Technology’. It can be used for the welding of almost any weld groove design and in any position- as long as there is physical access for the robot.
Other Markets
“I am pleased that we, as an international frontrunner in advanced welding robots, have entered the American market. Among other things, we ensure an improved competitiveness for Halter Marine, just as we ensure a clearly improved working environment for several welding workers”, says Thomas Bøgner.
“We will now be able to present locally how our robot solutions eliminate heavy and difficult manual welding tasks and thus open up to other potential customers in USA.”
In addition to shipyards, Inrotech’s intelligent and mobile robotic welding systems is the obvious choice for in the offshore industry, green energy sector and manufacturers of heavy-duty steel structures. Inrotech has delivered highly feasible welding robots of wind-towers, steel structures such as bridges and other applications worldwide but also for Hydro plants, welding up to 70mm plate thickness with variations in the groove geometry up to 50%.
The company’s success is based on a unique technology combination of mobile welding automation and a unique software: No programming, simple to use, mobile and flexible and high-quality welding. With the growing demand for quality welding, requirements for improvement of working environment, lack of skilled welders etc., Inrotech see a huge potential market for their robot welding solutions.
About Inrotech:
Inrotech was founded in 2010 by Flemming Jorgensen. Having long working experience with robot technology, an idea for an entirely new paradigm within welding robot technology formed in his mind, while working on a contract for the Maersk owned shipyard “Odense Steel Shipyard” (also called Lindoe). The idea was based on two main conceptual components: First, instead of huge gantries with large and heavy semi-stationary robots, which were operating in dedicated production areas where the large components were transported in order to be welded, why not make it the opposite way around: Make small, mobile robot solutions, which can be moved to- or even into- the work-objects. Without compromising welding efficiency, this offered several advantages to the traditional gantry-based solutions: lower cost, less transport of large structures and flexibility to move to different working areas. Second, no programming. Besides saving time for programming it does not require highly qualified robot engineers.
For more information, visit www.inrotech.com.
