MarineNews-2017-02

ity, collision avoidance and auto-

path generation kinematics that use

electronic CAD Model and Welding

Process Planning data. A gap analysis

of the required changes between Bol-

linger’s current processes and the ge-

neric industry CAR-W process map

was developed by the team. Today,

says Fanguy, “We are developing a

roadmap of alignment for other ship-

yards to follow. Finally, the project

will attempt to leverage and help de-

velop an electronic infrastructure that

captures critical process knowledge

(in electronic data form) related to

welding so that it can be electronically

leveraged by designers for Design For

Robotics (DFR) applications, as well

as by process planners and engineers.”

Unspoken in all of that, it is also true

that process data capture and trans-

fer of welder knowledge is a critical

risk associated with the aging weld-

ing work-force and welder workforce

shortage in the shipbuilding industry.

SSI eagerly agreed to participate

in the project. That’s because, Pat

David told MarineNews, “First and

foremost, what makes us unique in

our own space is that we are an Au-

toCad based product. There are far

more qualifi ed people out there who

could utilize this software. Secondly,

our costs are much lower overall as a

product – more functionality, more

capability, delivered to a designer at a

lower price point than any of the oth-

er options. We’re proactive, we have

good relationships with the yards and

a lot of us used to work in these yards

with the people that are still there. We

know what they need and why.”

Beyond this, says David, SSI tries to be

as agnostic as is possible when it comes

to data requirements. Dealing with data

built in other software would be a small

step for the robot to convert that data.

He adds, “It’s not a huge issue.”

But before anyone spent any money,

NSRP asked SSI and its collabora-

tive robotic team to clarify a couple of

things. One of those things was what

kind of return on investment would the

shipyard see and how long would that

take? David explains, “So, we went to

Bollinger to investigate what they were

doing with current weld processes so

we could understand where we could

realize the most savings for them. We

asked: what kind of welds to you do,

how big, how often, and what kind of

manpower does it take to accomplish

that? We determined the most com-

mon type of weld that would have the

most impact against the lowest capital

cost to implement for the project. We

targeted those types of welds.”

Nuts & Bolts: hardly ...

Already up and running and pro-

ducing real results in Bollinger’s, the

workfl ow starts in ShipConstructor by

automatically identifying the welds in

the ShipConstructor 3D CAD model.

The ShipConstructor user then uses

an interactive 3D visual drawing to

confi gure the weld properties such as

the weld standard and includes weld

breaks, weld pitch, etc. The weld infor-

mation and various other relevant data

(e.g. geometry of panel to be welded)

is exported to Wolf Robotics via SSI’s

EnterprisePlatform. The operator on

the shop fl oor reads the fi les generated

in Robot Studio which runs a path

planning algorithm that evaluates sev-

eral collision avoidance scenarios.

The effort was an R&D project for

SSI, says David, so the end benefi t

for his fi rm is probably a little further

down the road than that which Bol-

linger is now enjoying. But that doesn’t

mean that SSI isn’t happy with what

TECHNOLOGY

Funding Project Schedule

Total Amount of the Agreement:

$6,242,301

Three Phases:

Estimated NSRP ASE Project Funding:

$3,498,553

Phase 0 (April 2015 – Julittle abne 2015)

Total Estimated Recipient Cost Share:

$2,743,748

Phase I (July 2015 – July 2016)

Total Funds Obligated (Phase 0, 1, and

2): $3,498,553

Phase II (August 2016 – August 2017)

NSRP CAR-W Project ... at a glance

SHIP

CONSTRUCTOR

DRI VES

AUTOMATIC

W

ELDING

R

OBOTS

SHIP
CONSTRUCTOR

DRI VES

AUTOMATIC

W

ELDING

ROBOTS

http://www.marinelink.com (^) MN 25