Research Project SMARt Started: Fast Metal Deposition Welding with Mobile Industrial Robot

We are pleased about the start of the new research project Fast Metal Deposition Welding with Mobile Industrial Robot via Onboard Sensor Fusion and Online Path Correction (SMARt), which is funded by the NBank. The project runs from October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2028.

The goal of the project is the enablement of an automated regeneration of large forming tools via metal deposition welding directly on-site at the customer. Picum MT GmbH already offers an innovative solution for such tasks with its mobile robot system LISA. Within the framework of SMARt, this system is now to be significantly further developed to increase the degree of automation. Thus, especially small and medium-sized enterprises receive access to this technology, while simultaneously CO₂ emissions are avoided through the elimination of heavy transports.

The technical focus is on the development of a mobile welding robot that can work fully autonomously and requires no external calibration via laser sensor technology or operating personnel. Through the use of onboard sensor fusion, the robot is enabled to detect workpiece and position independently. A significant innovation is furthermore the ability to continue the welding process during the movement of the platform. This significantly enlarges the workspace and increases the efficiency of the overall process.

The implementation is carried out by a consortium with clearly distributed responsibilities:

The Institute of Mechatronic Systems (IMES) is responsible for the optimal path planning and the referencing via onboard sensor fusion. The institute brings in its specific expertise in the areas of sensor fusion and Iterative Learning Control (ILC) for this.

The Picum MT GmbH provides the mobile welding robot and underpins the development with its expertise in industrial welding processes as well as hardware development.

The voraus Robotik GmbH enables with its voraus.core a manufacturer-independent control of the components in real time. Additionally, the development environment voraus.pioneer enables the use of the known programming language Python, as well as the simulation of the mobile welding robot with a digital twin.