A group of Newport News Shipbuilding employees recently had a chance to preview what could be the future of welding at the shipyard. The group participated in a demo for a Tele-Weld system prototype, designed and built by the Edison Welding Institute (EWI).

The Tele-Weld system allows a welder to use a stylus to remotely control a robotic arm installed along a track to perform welding instead of holding the actual torch. A live video feed provides a constant visual of the weld. The National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) is funding the project, and NNS and General Dynamics Electric Boat are paid participants.

“Our goal with the project is to improve ergonomics for welders,” said Welding Engineer Brian Maher (E37), the project’s technical lead. “We’re hoping it leads to an improvement in quality and an improvement in quality of life for the welders themselves.”

During the recent demo, leaders had an opportunity to use the system and give preliminary feedback. This is the beta prototype for the project. It includes updates and changes based off feedback from the alpha prototype a couple of years ago.

Maher was pleased with the feedback from the most recent demo. “We received pretty positive feedback about how we can use it and what needs to happen next,” he said.

Elmer Dickens (E32), NSRP program lead, said one advantage of the Tele-Weld system could be allowing shipbuilders to continue contributing even if their physical condition makes it difficult to reach a particular jobsite.

“Say the welder has the mental capacity to still weld, but not the physical capacity to go up and down ladders or up on components. This would allow them to still weld,” he said.

With research and testing ongoing, the Tele-Weld system is at least a couple of years away from being in use on Navy components at NNS. Maher said his team continues to look for ways to use technology to support shipbuilders and their work.

“This is one of a couple of projects we have going to introduce more robotics into the shipyard,” he said.

The prototype will be onsite at NNS until the end of October. Shipbuilders who are interested in seeing the demo should reach out to Maher or Dickens before the end of the month.