All CWI's are gonna go out of business

Date 12-21-2011 04:48 Edited 12-21-2011 06:30

I admit that was just a purposefully dramatic headline.

Talked to some folks at servo robot about the device linked below.
http://www.servorobot.com/en/manufacturing-solutions/weld-sealant-bead-inspection/wikiscan.html

now this technology would never replace a skilled and competent CWI and there's still a long way to go before laser interferometers are are acceptable by some QC and inspection standards . But I think devices like this will make headway in the next 5-10 years especially as the technology improves and the prices drop. I'm curious to try one just to see how well it works, seems like it could be a nifty device if it could do even half the things it claims.

I would be more worried about it being an excuse to let any 'ol guy be a "welding inspector" or thinking it replaces the functions of a CWI.

By 803056

Date 12-21-2011 15:31

Another high priced gizmo that will break when it is dropped, affected by temperature changes, and requires calibration. And can it read a code?

Best regards - Al

By fitter

Date 12-21-2011 23:03

"Automatically determines when to take the measurement, so no special skills are required", enough said.

By 99205

Date 12-22-2011 01:41

Just another tool that will sit in the Shop Foreman's office.

By js55

Date 12-22-2011 12:53

Personally I think the incompetence of CWI's does a far better job in getting themselves replaced than any technology could ever hope to achieve.
Also, as Al stated yet another in a long list of high tech low dependability gizmo's with more marketing than usefullness. In the end it will still need a human mind and human decision making process to make it work, even if it is sittin back at the desk drinking coffee and reviewing data. So CWI's are safe for some time.
Its interesting the welding world is much like the physics world. It all changed in physics around the teens and 20's(relativity/quantum mechanics). Everything after that was working out the details and window dressing. In the welding world it was the 20's to 50's (the big five fusion processes) with the same historical legacy. Oh yes we got string/M stuff much like solid state circuitry or pulsing, but these 'innovations' came at a much slower pace. And now whereas physicists argue ad nauseum over the artificial realm of the unprovable, the welding world switches to the artificial world of marketing.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 12-28-2011 20:03

I agree we are in the long tail of development now. A lot of the research is into fancy laser/hybrid processes that have limited applicability for manual welding. There's still quite a bit of active research into flux compositions which is mostly commercial research.

I just thought the piece of technology was curious, I don't think it's risking any CWI's job nor would I want a laser interferometer to make judgement calls on code work, but I do see the field expanding greatly in the next 10 years.