Copilot™ Cobot Systems Make Welding Automation Integration Easier Than Ever

With the evolving needs of industries like manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding and construction, welding automation has become increasingly popular. And with the ongoing pressures of a skilled labor shortage, automation has been a positive addition to many operations where maintaining productivity levels and consistent weld quality is essential. The hallmarks of welding automation are substantial, including:

• Improved efficiency and productivity: Automated welding systems can work faster and more consistently than human welders with handheld machines. Automation minimizes the amount of downtime between operations as it can be programmed to perform tasks with less human intervention, leading to a more continuous operation.
  
  
• Enhanced part quality: Automation can maintain the same welding parameters throughout the entire production run, ensuring uniform, high-quality welds. Welding robots and cobots provide high precision and repeatability, ensuring that every weld is consistent.
  
  
• Automation advances: New technology allows robots and cobots to handle more complex welding tasks and adjust to real-time variables (e.g., material thickness, joint position) without needing extensive reprogramming. Cobots are designed to work safely alongside human operators, providing a flexible, cost-effective solution for small to medium-scale operations that don’t require full automation but still benefit from robot assistance.
  
  
• Operational flexibility: Modern welding automation is highly customizable and can be programmed for a variety of welding processes and materials. This flexibility allows manufacturers to adapt to different production needs without requiring significant investment in new equipment or overhauling their entire operational layout to accommodate.
  
  
• Smaller batches: With the ability to quickly reprogram and adjust, automated systems can efficiently handle smaller batch runs or customized parts, which is important as many industries move toward more diverse and personalized production.
  
  
• Cost savings: Automation can handle tasks at a much lower cost per unit in the long run, reducing the reliance on skilled labor and lowering the overall cost of production.

Miller® Copilot™ cobot welding systems improve any operation

The benefits of welding automation are likely easy to see, but selecting the right welding automation system may be less so. To help operations benefit from welding automation, the Copilot cobot systems from Miller make choosing and integrating automation easy and uncomplicated — so you don’t have to slow down to speed up.

Easy to operate and integrate, cobots help operations — and operators — amplify their welding. Miller currently offers two welding systems to suit customer needs: the original Copilot and new Copilot Builder™.

Built to be rugged and reliable, the Copilot system is the only cobot with Miller-developed software and components, fine-tuning capabilities and the ability to easily set and store parameters. The system was designed for users who have never programmed robots before, helping them quickly improve their skill levels and increase their productivity. The welder-centric nature of the Copilot removes complexity typically associated with automation so it’s easy to handle quick changeovers for high-mix, low-volume parts.

With the integration of the Auto Deltaweld® power source, the Copilot system provides all the advanced features an operator needs with a headless power source design that focuses the user interface on the machine’s teach pendant. This eliminates redundant inputs and simplifies the process for operators. Additionally, the Auto Deltaweld’s input power flexibility accommodates both single-phase and three-phase input.

Welding automation that’s easy and accessible

Copilot and Copilot Builder share the same key operational benefits for uniformity across models. Exclusive features include:

• Touch sensing: The location of a welding workpiece is detected through voltage sensing and programmed torch sweeps, ensuring accurate placement before welding begins. It uses the welding wire as a probe to search for the part in a specified direction and then applies a shift value to the original location of the part. This helps overcome challenges like poor part alignment, bad joint fit-up and inconsistent joint geometry.

• Seam tracking: The robot takes live feedback from the welding power supply to maintain a consistent relationship between the torch and the joint. The robot weaves across the joint, calculating the average amperage, and then adjusts its position based on the live amperage feedback. This helps to reduce the effects of part distortion, variation from part to part and inconsistent joints, ensuring the joint is welded with the correct bead look and depth.

• AccuGuide™ Precision Joystick: For the most accurate welds, the AccuGuide Precision Joystick simplifies precise gun positioning and adjustment with easy fingertip control. 

• Multipass software: Operators can easily program, save and subsequently recall weld passes that can then be combined to create weld recipes to properly root, fill and cap large weld joints of varying sizes. This is especially important if the weld joint thickness is greater than what can be effectively welded in a single pass.

• IntelliSet™ Weld Settings Assistant: The intuitive Miller software takes the guesswork and complexity out of weld settings. Welders simply input the material thickness and wire diameter, and IntelliSet technology will configure the ideal settings for the best results. 

• Advanced capabilities: Operators can load and unload from a single station that can be shared with the robot envelope, making it great for users across all skill levels. It’s also effective for addressing challenges often faced by high-mix, low-volume operations, allowing them to accelerate training and enhance productivity to meet deadlines.

Copilot™ Builder™ solves configuration challenges with increased flexibility

When bringing welding automation into the lineup, carving out the right space is essential. The Copilot comes standard on a large, robust 48" x 48" work table with 42" x 30" hole pattern. It supports up to a 1,500-pound payload capacity and has a tooling hole pattern that’s compatible with most modular fixturing. The table is easy to drop into a shop’s layout, and it can easily be moved and repositioned, with forklift pockets provided for transferring longer distances.

The Copilot Builder takes operational integration to the next level by allowing for greater flexibility in welding automation configurations. Often, workspace environments or product flow considerations create welding challenges unique to the shop’s floor. To adapt, the Builder system’s welding arm can be mounted however the application requires, including on a wall or track for the ideal configuration to tackle parts that are big or have complex and harder-to-access joints. All the critical pieces of Builder arrive on a portable pallet. The welding arm and other various components are ready to be detached and placed within the welding environment. Additionally, the wire drive can be rearranged, and optional cable lengths deliver even more freedom and customization.

Whether an operation is seen as standard or uniquely intricate, Copilot arc welding cobot systems can accommodate a variety of configurations and take the guesswork out of welding automation — helping companies remove barriers to automation and amplify productivity and efficiency.