Product Spotlight | Vectis Cobot Welding Tool

Vectis Cobot Welding Tool

The American Welding Society (AWS) has been touting the extreme shortage of skilled labor the welding industry was facing for years.  As recent as the 2021 Fabtech Expo in Chicago, IL, AWS is predicting the industry will need over 250,000 welders by 2023.  One way to help reduce this predicted short coming is through robotics and automation.  Historically, this means a large capital investment, hours of training, learning a complex programming language, and a long return on investment.

What if I told you there is a simpler solution that takes hours, and not weeks to install and start welding?  Vectis Automation saw these issues and realized they had a solution to many of these issues, The Vectis Cobot Welding Tool.  Why is it a “Cobot” and not a Robot?  Cobot is short for “Collaborative Robot”.  This means the operator and the robot are working side by side.  With the Vectis Cobot Welding Tool, no safety curtains are needed.  The arm moves at a safe rate to allow humans working with and around the table. 

The two things I like most about this product is the low entry cost and the fast and intuitive programming.

The base system as seen here is under $100,000, and they offer a 30-day money back guarantee.  Vectis also has rental units available.  If you decide to purchase the table any time during the rental period, a large percentage of the rental rate can be applied to your purchase price.  Try doing this with a large robotic cell.

The programing is visual and not done in complex code that takes weeks of training to learn.  A pendant shows the operator what information is needed to program a particular path.  This type of interface is familiar to the young workers coming into the market.  They view this as an extension of something they would do on their phone and or tablet.  Vectis provides starting welding parameters and allows you to fine tune them as needed. 

If you’re interested in seeing an on-line demo, or would like to have some sample parts welded, email me at: joel.armstrong@redballoxygen.com