Thanks to the newly formed partnership between Weldbot and Lorain County JVS, students in the Welding and Fabrication program have a new FANUC CRX Cobot, a collaborative robot, in their career tech lab.
Levi Bowman, Weldbot president, shared that his company is dedicated to advancing manufacturing through robotic welding and custom machine building.
“I actually got a call, and we heard that there was a need to update equipment in the Lorain County JVS welding lab and we saw an opportunity to help out,” Bowman said.
This robot is designed to work in tandem with a human operator.
Tony Tyree, Lorain County JVS Welding and Fabrication instructor explained how his students in the high school and Adult Career Center will use this robot. “Students will begin to get used to this new technology by using it in some small production runs so they can get used to setting up a fixture and a table to locate some parts and also write the program with timers to see how quickly they can complete a part.”
“FANUC is the most sold robot in the world and are one of the most user-friendly robots on the market,” said Tyree. “With them being the most common robot used, I think it is a very applicable thing to have here for our students.”
Bowman shares how this will help students. “This is another skillset for them to learn, another tool in their toolbox, making them more valuable. This will also introduce the students to programming and there is a definite career path to becoming robotic programmers for those who can take on that task of programming and weld development.”
Collaborative robots are used to make seat brackets for Ford pickup trucks, parts for Cub Cadet lawn mowers and high-pressure oil field pipes.
Tyler Pilarczyk, senior in the Welding and Fabrication program feels this robot is inspirational. “It shows how far welding has come from where it first started.”
Bowman is excited about the possibilities of this partnership. “With the partnership between Weldbot and LCJVS, we are really looking forward to getting the students properly trained and to be competent and successful in their careers.”