Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Robots could be the solution to filling the shortage of welders in the UK, thanks to existing human expertise, a new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed.
The UK's critical welder shortage threatens certain industries, from construction to aerospace, potentially impacting the economy and infrastructure. Declining vocational training and Brexit as it becomes more challenging to attract and retain skilled welders from the EU has further exacerbated this skills gap. According to Axiom Personnel, half of the nation’s welders are due to retire by 2027.
In the new study, published in Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, the authors asked whether robots could bridge this divide and if expert welder skills could be transferred to automated systems.
By developing a robotic welding system that learns from skilled welders, and building a skills library, the system could then tackle new, unseen welding tasks by intelligently combining learned skills, demonstrated successfully with both expert and novice welders.
In the proposed approach, proficient welders execute basic tasks, such as welding simple lines or arcs, while their actions are recorded using an operation tracking system. Then key welding parameters, such as torch travelling speed, welding arc length, welding angle, welding current, and wire feeding rate, are extracted and stored in a skill library.
Experiments have also been conducted to verify the system. A skilled welder was asked to weld linear and arc-shaped grooves on stainless steel workpieces, while the welder’s skills were tracked, extracted, and stored digitally.
These skills were further used to plan the robotic welding system to execute new complex tasks, such as polynomial curves - curves with a lot of bends. Welding results from the robot show a quality that is on par with that of a skilled welder, effectively saving time and resources in the long term.
Our aim is not to replace expert welders with robots. Instead, we seek to enable robots to conduct repetitive or hazardous tasks after learning skills from expert welders to increase the productivity, thereby allowing the experts to focus on more creative tasks.
“The proposed methodology in this research is expandable to other manual operations such as assembly, polishing. Hence it can benefit several industrial sectors.”
Robotic welding systems are pivotal in various manufacturing sectors, such as aerospace, construction, automotive, and maritime industries, due to their ability to operate in challenging environments with fewer physical constraints compared to human welders.
However, their lack of process knowledge and adaptability leads to a heavy reliance on experienced technicians for process planning. To reduce these challenges, this new robotic welding system is proposed, focusing on learning from manual operations.
The full study is available here.
Story credits
More information is available from Associate Professor Abdelkhalick Mohammad on Abd.Mohammad1@nottingham.ac.uk
Faith Pring - Media Relations Manager
Email: faith.pring@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone: 0115 748 4411
Location: University of Nottingham, University Park
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 24 in Europe and 15th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the third most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2024 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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