Welder

Nifty video of a robotic welder, courtesy of Youtube...

University of New Orleans working on research to utilize robots to weld ship components

One of the enduring issues in the U.S. shipbuilding industry has been a lack of qualified welders. There are never enough people to do the work.

“The shipbuilding industry can never find enough welders, and welding is a core competence of shipbuilding,” says Frank Bordelon, executive director of the UNO Gulf Coast Region Maritime Technology Center (per Assembly Magazine).

In one angle of a solution, the the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has granted UNO $3.6 million to pursue tools to help develop robotic alternatives. Pretty interesting that we lay off craftsmen in shipyards, but can't seem to find enough welders...