Robots in welded structures production: state of the art and prospects for development

摘要

Given are the statistical data on the annual output and accumulated number of robots for all purposes and separately for the welding robots for 1990-1996 and forecasts up to 2000. The causes for the temporary declines in the pace of roboticsprogress in 1987-1988 and in 1992-1993 are analyzed, comparison is given of the dynamics of the change of investments into the machine tools and robots against the background of cyclic changes in the world economy. It is shown that the proportion ofwelding robots in the industrialized countries is invariably high and is equal, on the whole, to one third of the robots being used. Given are the data which are indicative of the fact that the average price for robots is reduced, on the whole, withimprovement of their technical characteristics. The main R&D goals in the field of the welding production robotization are defined.