Welding robot by Joel Sullivan - video

[Frank S]

Like you said Pj, I would imagine there will be several refinements over time. One of which I suspect will be shielding around the mig gun to prevent sparks from flying everywhere. Rubber wheels for traction should not be required as the weight of the robotic tractor looks to be sufficient. sparks or splatter grains would easily be embedded in rubber or polyurethane. Adding a convex culture to them would help in guidance and control I would think. As the point of contact would concentrate the weight of the tractor. The wheel contact area could be knurled just as that of a track torch which I have used frequently in the past as a means for making long straight seam and filet welds. Not computer or Cell phony device required. Set the travel speed the height and watch it weld. We used to make square and hex Kelley bars for drill rigs this way Had a 90 ft long torch tract another way was when joining large cylinders to make long pipes was to place them on powered rollers wiht the mig gun stationary at the top. or send it on a tractor down the inside of a rolled sheet to make the cylinders