Software developed by a tech company in Wollongong is helping to make boats in Sweden, cranes in New South Wales, and truck bodies around Australia.
Verbotics Weld, which spun out of the University of Wollongong, has developed software to automatically program robotic welding machines to assist in the manufacturing process, and make this innovative technology more accessible for smaller firms.
The conventional method of programming automated machines to complete manufacturing tasks such as welding is time-consuming and expensive, making it only viable for high-volume manufacturing by large organisations.
The team of researchers from the University of Wollongong were first confronted with this problem when they were trying to program a robot to weld an armoured defence vehicle as part of a project.
Confronted with the high costs and difficulties that the current approach brings, the team thought there must be a better way, and embarked on a number of research projects.
The end result is Verbotics Weld, which offers software to make the programming of manufacturing robots easier, faster and more flexible, opening up this world of automation to high-mix, low-volume production carried out by smaller companies.
Verbotics Weld is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence in the Manufacturing Innovation category and Translation Hero category. You can secure your tickets to the black-tie gala event here.
Verbotics is now based at the iAccelerator startup incubator in Wollongong, and already half of its sales come from countries outside of Australia.
The company is also looking to solve a critical skills shortage in manufacturing. Weld Australia has estimated that by 2030 there will be a shortage of 70,000 skilled welders, while in the United States that number has been estimated at 500,000.
According to the Weld Australia 2023 member survey, there is a “severe” skills shortage facing the industry, with 60 percent of respondents expecting these shortages to block their near-term growth.
Half of all respondents to the survey said that they were operating at 80 percent capacity or less, with a lack of workers cited as the main reason for this.
“They are being forced to turn down jobs because they simply don’t have the manpower to complete this work,” Weld Australia CEO Geoff Crittenden said last year.
To help combat this, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were investing in automation and technology, or changing their existing processes.
The skills shortage has hit smaller manufacturers particularly hard due to an inability to automate some aspects of their operation.
But Verbotics is looking to change that by automating the entire process of programming a welding robot, making it quick and easy. This is done through an easy-to-use desktop app that’s simple and powerful.
Verbotics has won an MVP Ventures grant, an Accelerating Commercialisation grant and an Excellerate PhD industry placement grant, and has also secured some venture capital funding.
It continues to collaborate with the University of Wollongong, which helps the company to test its software and access robot welding tools.
Verbotics is also looking towards its next major product unveiling, which will include sensor-based programming where 3D scanning sensors will be able to scan a part, rather than the existing method of requiring the user to already have a 3D-model of their part.
Looking for brand exposure in front of Australia’s tech ecosystem? Purchase a table of 10 for the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a table sponsor.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by: Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, and IP Australia.
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