Sept. 11, 2023 - Path Robotics, the market leader of truly autonomous welding robotic systems, has announced its next chapter in delivering fully autonomous manufacturing systems with their new Autonomous Fit-up robotic system ("AF-1"), a ground-breaking robotic cell capable of performing both fit-up and welding of metal parts. This historic release marks a significant leap forward in the metal fabrication industry and will take center stage at FABTECH, North America's premier metal forming and fabrication tradeshow. AF-1 enables manufacturers to increase production throughput without the need for hiring fitters, welders, and programmers. Path leverages proprietary computer vision and AI to autonomously pick, fit-up, and weld small parts.
Manufacturers simply load in raw components, hit go, and come back to a batch of welded parts. AF-1 cells run autonomously for hours with zero human intervention. As part of Path's RaaS (Robots-as-a-Service) offering, Path provides manufacturers with 24/7 production assistance via its Mission Control command center. "Today marks a significant milestone in the advancement of American manufacturing. We are excited to publicly unveil a system we have been developing for years that we know will change the landscape of manufacturing for years to come," said Andy Lonsberry, co-founder and CEO of Path Robotics.
Hutchens Industries, Inc., a leader in the design and manufacturing of spring suspensions and sliding subframes for the trailer industry, was one of the early partners for Path during the development of AF-1. "We see the AF-1 cells as a way to continue to grow our company and to alleviate our labor gaps currently and into the future," said Ty Hutchens EVP/COO Hutchens Industries. Path is live with this offering with customers with a backlog into late 2023, and actively signing more innovative manufacturers to the platform.
