On June 16, the first day of the ESSEN exhibition, the STEP booth was bustling with visitors and brimming with highlights—high-tech welding application solutions that are highly sought after by industry users in sectors such as steel structures, power tower foundations, electric vehicles, intersecting lines, and construction machinery, as well as solutions that welders themselves are keenly interested in. Machine Vision and Advanced Algorithms the blessing, Dual-machine collaboration 、 Arc Tracking 、 Robotic Welding Process for Thin and Medium-Thick Plates ……all on display at Booth 1442, Hall E1, Shanghai New International Expo Center.

Exhibition venue

Let’s head over to the STEP booth together and take a closer look at how STEP is leveraging machine vision and advanced algorithms to empower robots, while deeply integrating them with welding processes to boost welding efficiency and make it smarter.

STEP Booth

Construction Machinery Workstation

In recent years, the construction machinery industry has been experiencing rapid growth. STEP has made comprehensive strategic arrangements for the construction machinery sector: At construction machinery OEMs, STEP’s Intelligent Manufacturing Division, leveraging its strong system integration capabilities in the automotive body-in-white field, provides end-to-end intelligent manufacturing solutions for entire plants. The Zhejiang Dingli project has set a benchmark for the construction machinery industry. In the component enterprises of the construction machinery sector, STEP’s Robotics Division has successively launched solutions for components such as loader beams, loader crossbeams, coal mine conveyor rollers, tower crane motor mounts, and fuel tanks at supporting companies including XCMG, Sany, and Shandong Lingong.

Workstation operating status of construction machinery

At this Essen exhibition, STEP brought a robotic welding solution for fuel tank assembly. This time, STEP utilized... Dual-machine collaboration technology ， Developed an advanced welding feature package. ， Integrated use of laser tracking 、 Coordinated Positioning Machine and other functions, Combined with the robot control system developed in-house. ， Achieved coordinated control of up to 13 axes. ， Ultimately, it broke the market’s previous competitive landscape, which had been dominated by imported robot brands. In addition, STEP has developed... Thin-plate small-current arc tracking technology It achieves 110A low-current arc tracking, supports as thin as 3mm tank plate materials, features low spatter and eliminates the need for grinding, thereby reducing subsequent processing steps, enhancing product manufacturing efficiency, and delivering internationally leading performance.

Construction Machinery Workstation Tour and Explanation

Steel structure workstation

With the growing promotion of prefabricated construction, the construction industry is increasingly adopting factory-based manufacturing and assembly-based construction methods, leading to a wider use of steel structures. At the same time, practical challenges—such as small order volumes with numerous batches and limited standardization of incoming materials—are posing significant obstacles to the automation of factory-based steel structure manufacturing. In the past, robotic welding methods relying on contact-based positioning have been used; however, due to lengthy positioning times and low welding efficiency, users have found themselves deeply troubled when confronted with rapidly increasing order volumes.

Steel structure workstation operating status

STEP innovatively applies 3D vision and parametric programming to steel structure welding. Parametric programming is used to determine the approximate location of weld seams on workpieces, while a 3D camera captures real-time three-dimensional data of the workpiece. This enables rapid and stable extraction of weld seam information. Positioning speed increased by 80% ， The welding efficiency issue has been resolved. This technology has already been successfully applied to Steel structure 、 Reinforcing bar 、 Heat exchanger 、 Mesh structure Welding of complex workpieces in multiple scenarios.

Steel Structure Workstation Tour and Explanation

In the post-pandemic era, the growing demand for individual travel by one person per vehicle and the declining costs of lithium batteries have rapidly boosted the growth of the two-wheeled electric vehicle market. Two-wheeled electric vehicle companies—facing stringent requirements for production rhythms, short delivery cycles for new factories, and rapid capacity ramp-up—have set high standards for robotic welding efficiency and ease of operation.

In response to market demands, STEP quickly made adjustments. Addressing the characteristics of two-wheeled electric vehicles—such as short weld seams, numerous weld beads, and extensive idle travel—it has incorporated self-developed features. Robot Dynamics Algorithm ， Welding no-load travel speed increased by 30%. ; Optimize the robot teach pendant operation interface, Achieve foolproof operation ， The training cycle has been shortened by 30%. ; Launch Thin-plate low-splash welding kit ， Precisely control current and voltage using a fully digital system. ， Splashing reduced by 65%-80% The number of times splashes need to be cleared and nozzles cleaned has been significantly reduced, resulting in improved efficiency.

On-site communication

Intersection Line Workstation

Welding of intersecting lines has long been a challenging issue in welding automation, plagued by a series of problems such as poor consistency in fixture positioning, the inability of arc tracking to work effectively, and the unsuitability of laser tracking. This time, STEP has tackled these challenges by leveraging advanced algorithms at the underlying level and employing a non-contact positioning sensor to collect data from round tubes. The system automatically identifies tube diameters and slopes, then generates the trajectory for the intersecting lines. The entire process is fully automated, requiring no programming or teach-in procedures, thus solving the longstanding difficulties in welding intersecting lines.

Working status of the intersection line workstation

The core of the STEP intersecting-line intelligent welding system lies in its ability to... Workpiece information collected based on point laser scanning detection. ， Generate the motion trajectory for robotic work and the corresponding welding parameters. In fact, it integrates the experience and methodologies that “advanced welders” have acquired over long periods of hands-on practice into software algorithms, enabling companies to save on training and labor costs associated with specialized technical personnel. This feature can be extended to many different applications, and its... Positioning efficiency is 80% higher than that of traditional contact-based positioning. ， Can automatically fit various surfaces and planes. , also can Supports parametric programming ， Overall welding efficiency has been significantly improved. ， This has made STEP robots true high-level welders. 。

Tour and Explanation of the Intersection Line Workstation

On-site welding workstation

The fabrication and manufacturing of power transmission towers are typically characterized by a wide variety of products produced in small batches. Coupled with manual alignment and inconsistent incoming material quality, as well as the requirement for certain components to meet national Level II weld inspection standards, these factors have historically made automated welding impossible to achieve.

Workstation Status for On-site Welding

STEP innovatively employs parametric programming, combined with line laser guidance to generate welding trajectories, taking the lead in... In engineering applications, the challenge of robotic automated welding for power tower foundations has been successfully addressed. ; Meanwhile, after years of exploration, The pass rate for graded welds exceeds that of senior welders. 。

The STEP power tower base welding solution is currently available. China Electric Engineering Corporation 、 Within the China Energy Engineering Group system Several tower companies have undergone field verification, and practice has proven that... It is currently the only stable and readily available welding solution for power tower foundations on the market.

The on-site welding workstation participates in the briefing.

Seeing is believing—get a detailed look at STEP robotic welding solutions. We’d love to see you at the ESSEN trade show from the 17th to the 19th! STEP Booth, Stand 1442, Hall E1, Shanghai New International Expo Center Chat with STEP engineers about your welding needs.

STEP Essen Exhibition Booth