Technology made in Italy, Fincantieri and Comau inaugurate the super robot for ships – Corriere.it

A robot to improve performance and make welding easier for operators. The first result of the collaboration launched in 2021 between Comau – part of the Stellantis group – and Fincantieri was presented in Munich, on the occasion of the Automatica trade fair. It’s called MR4Weld (Mobile Robot for Weld) and looks like an anthropomorphic robot equipped with six mechanical arms and secured to a remotely controlled tracked vehicle.

Optimization of work

It will be used within the Fincantieri structures, explain the parties, in order to improve the shipbuilding process in quantity and quality, taking care of the so-called “low added value” tasks. In essence, the machine will be able to weld steel structures autonomously, with a production capacity approximately three times greater than manual activity.
And he will work under the supervision of a single operator, who will have to undergo a training period of no more than three weeks: significantly less time than the learning arc of the welder profession. The CEO of Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero, and that of Comau, Pietro Gorlier, have also signed a new agreement for the development of robotic mobile solutions for unstructured environments.

The first prototype

The project with Comau – explains the CEO of Fincantieri Folgiero – fits into a broader context, in which we are confronted with the absence of low-value-added manpower, which represents an area of ​​suffering not only for the Italy, but for the whole of Europe and the West. Hence the decision to focus on the technological lever that decreases this type of need e it allows us to bring the Italians back to the workforce with high added value, what I call the testadopera.

For its part, Comau – which this year celebrates its fiftieth year of activity – is developing advanced automation solutions for new markets – announces the CEO Gorlier – and is consolidating itself in the e-Mobility segment, which already today represents 30% of the our business, constantly growing. An example of the technologies we are developing to take the benefits of automation outside the factory.

MR4Weld is the first of the three prototypes created as part of the collaboration between the two groups which, in the near future, will proceed with the industrialization of a plan of 28 robots to be assigned to various Fincantieri plants.