UWS

Whether on sheet pile walls, locks, or offshore structures, underwater welding is essential for the maintenance of critical maritime infrastructure.

Welding robots are widely used in industrial manufacturing today. However, the underwater environment is far from the optimal conditions under which these systems operate in factory settings: poor visibility, corrosion, and contamination, as well as water movement, make underwater welding a unique challenge. Divers require specialized training and extensive experience to work as underwater welders. To date, automation efforts have been hampered by a lack of suitable welding processes, insufficient sensor technology, and the need for further development in welding process control.

As part of the MARIOW project, the DFKI and its partners successfully developed an underwater welding robot and demonstrated it in the laboratory. The system is based on an underwater-capable robotic arm, stereo cameras, and AI for workpiece recognition, as well as an innovative underwater welding process using a flux-cored wire electrode.

In the ongoing UWS project, the consortium is taking things a step further: the welding robot is being tested under real-world conditions in the port of Bremerhaven, and key components are being adapted and optimized.

The goal is to gather experience so that maintenance tasks at the port can be automated in the future. A further focus is on close collaboration with stakeholders in the port industry.

The consortium is actively supported in this effort by the port operator Bremenports in the context of the Smartport Initiative as a DATIpilot Community Project. For more information, visit https://smartport-transfer.de/