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 US, conducted a joint experiment. As a result, one of the welders was able to operate a robot without special training on the same day.

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 Hargett said.

Also, a poll was conducted among the welding community. Out of 1500 voters, 43% think robots present a great opportunity for better efficiency.

Dmitry Golitsyn, co-founder and CTO at ABAGY, explains: “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”.

About ABAGY

ABAGY is revolutionizing the industrial robotics market by extending robots’ applicability to non-serial production. The company breaks the stereotype about robots being applicable only for the mass production of thousands of identical products, such as the automotive industry or electronics. With ABAGY’s software, manufacturers can use robots for custom projects or even one-of-a-kind parts. No robot programming is required.

About Weld.com

Weld.com is a community platform where members can seek advice and network with industry experts. The community has developed a mobile app, and they are also present on social media. Their YouTube channel Weld.com, for instance, has more than 800k subscribers.