Prospects for replacing production lines in the shipyards workshops with multifunctional assembly and welding manipulators

Abstract

Some aspects for improving the technical level and flexibility of assembly and welding production of domestic shipyards are discussed in the paper. It is noted that a number of shipyards have integrated mechanized production lines of foreign manufacturers: for metal processing, manufacture of ship hull structures, their painting, etc. As a rule, such lines are equipped with high-performance technological equipment; however, they are ineffective in conditions of small-scale production. The main reason is insufficient line loading. An alternative to such lines can be multi-functional complex mechanized and partially automated assembly and welding manipulators, which are a flexible production module equipped with an assembly and welding portal (or semi-portal) and a set of replaceable mounted assembly and welding equipment. The research purpose is an increase in the technical level and flexibility of assembly and welding production of domestic shipbuilding enterprises in the short term by replacing resource-producing and inefficient due to insufficient loading of mechanized production lines of foreign production with import-substituted multifunctional complex-mechanized assembly and welding manipulators. The subject of the research is a flexibly reconfigurable production system of a shipyard. Mechanized production lines of assembly and welding production and complex mechanized assembly and welding manipulators are accepted as objects of research. As a result of the research, the functionality of assembly and welding manipulators for the assembly of ship hull structures and a set of factors influencing the choice of their design schemes are determined. It is concluded that due to the extreme urgency of the issue considered in the paper, it is necessary to conduct a set of special studies on the theoretical justification of replacing inefficient mechanized production lines with complex mechanized multifunctional assembly and welding manipulators, and a range of priority tasks to achieve this goal is defined.