Miller Electric teams up with ICS to develop cobot welding automation system

ICS, an embedded software developer for regulated industries, has collaborated with Miller Electric to create its Copilot Welding Automation System. The collaborative robot (cobot) welding system is designed to work alongside humans to automate repetitive tasks and allow welders to focus on more complex work.

"One of the things we're most proud of with the Copilot system is how incredibly easy it is to use,” commented David Savage, automation engineering manager at Miller. “We've had welders with no robot experience pick it up and run a job within minutes."

Miller approached ICS with an ambitious vision to democratize robotic welding for small shops. Miller turned to ICS’ UX design specialists to re-imagine the cobot control touchscreen interface.

"Working with the Miller team was incredibly rewarding. They brought deep domain expertise and a clear vision, but what really made the collaboration fruitful was their openness to new ideas,” said Dorothy Shamonsky, PhD, ICS director of UX strategy. “They trusted ICS to push the boundaries on UX and development, which gave us the freedom to innovate. That level of mutual respect and flexibility is what turned a promising prototype into a truly market-leading product."