System integration of automatic welding robot for assembly line in shipbuilding (ICCAS2005)

Lately, the demand for automation in the industries has increased and automation system has continuously installed in various industrial fields. But automation for shipbuilding industries is more difficult than others. Because we must cope with diverse ship types and owner's various requirements. Nevertheless, for the past several years a steady development on welding robot for shipbuilding has been going on. Existing automatic welding robots are operated separately and do not communicate with each other. In the existing facilities, although a unit of robot has a good performance, and if all of units are not operated systematically, we are not satisfied with results of our system. So we suggest an integration and operation method of system units. System integration methods applied to our system have in many cases lead to lower cost and shorter lead time.