On the occasion of Automatica 2023, the fair on automation and robotics in Munich, the Italian navalmechanic group Fincantieri and the compatriate Comau, which specialises in the development of digital technologies for the industrial production, presented the first concrete result of their collaboration : MR4Weld (Mobile Robot for Weld-mobile robot for welding), a mobile robotized welding solution for outdoor environments, designed to improve the quality, the performance and well-being of operators during labor-intensive welding activities.

The MR4Weld mobile robot will be tested and subsequently used in Fincantieri shipyards to autonomously weld steel structures, with the possibility of increasing the operation up to three times compared to a manual process. This system has a six-axle, high-payer articulated robot, equipped with a welding canal installed on a cinged subwagon and with an integrated vision system to autonomously identify welding joints. The system ensures better welding quality while reducing ergonomic risks, helping to transform the shipbuilding process, ensuring greater flexibility and higher security, as well as reducing costs. overall.

Designed to be able to move in any environment and collaborate with workers, MR4Weld can be easily managed by a single operator during transfer and welding activities. The system also uses digital tools to collect welding and production data, which can be employed to track welded joints.

Fincantieri and Comau have jointly filed a European patent application for certain specific technical features.

In addition, the two companies announced the renewal of their strategic agreement, which started in 2021, to apply technology, digitalization and innovation within state-of-the-art mobile robotic solutions that will increase the speed of production and welfare of workers by automating traditional manual processes. As part of this renewed collaboration, companies will develop advanced and mobile robotics solutions to automate other repetitive activities within the shipbuilding processes, including those that affect surfaces vertical and nonlinear and unstructured environments, in addition to the testing of the Comau exoskeletons to further improve the ergonomic conditions and well-being of operators. Fincantieri will also work with Comau to strengthen and improve the technical expertise of its operators in terms of the use and programming of mobile robotic systems, adapting to the operators of the shipbuilding industry programs of dedicated advanced training already developed by Comau.

In the meantime, today at the shipyard of the Fincantieri in Castellammare di Stabia, the setting of the Atlas , the second logistics support unit (LSS, namely Logistic Support Ship) intended for the Italian Navy under a program that also provides for a third. The unit will be delivered in 2025. The contract has a value of around 410 million euros including the combat system.