Automation of welding processes is currently one of the key directions for the development of the Polish metal industry. More and more manufacturing companies are searching for solutions that increase precision, repeatability, and welding efficiency—while maintaining the flexibility of the workstation. To meet these exact needs, weldCob was created—a Mobile Welding Cobot with its own compact design, whose workstation was built upon a proven, solid foundation: the POS-MET welding table.
Welding Plate as a Workstation Operating Element
The weldCob uses an EXTREME series welding plate measuring 800 x 800 x 15 mm, with a wall thickness for s28 holes, and a nitrided 100 x 100 mm mounting hole grid with grid lines. This specification is no coincidence—these parameters are typical for professional welding and assembly tables, where surface hardness and resistance (achieved through nitriding) matter as much as precise, repeatable positioning of clamping equipment thanks to the dense hole grid with grid lines.
The welding plate serves a triple function here. First, it is used for positioning components using standard clamping tools—the hole grid allows for fast and repeatable setup of elements for welding without the need to design dedicated fixtures. Second, thanks to the consistent mounting grid, it enables connection with other welding tabletops, allowing for easy expansion of the workstation or configuring it for a specific component or production process. Third, thanks to the zero-point clamping system used, the plate can serve as an element for rapid changeovers. In practice, this means that entire clamping fixtures, along with the mounting plate attached to them, can be removed and replaced with another set in just a few minutes, without the need for re-referencing and setting up the component from scratch. A system of this type usually relies on a centering and clamping module embedded in the plate’s hole, which, once clamped, provides high positioning repeatability—re-adjustment of the mounted fixture is then unnecessary.
This approach has several significant implications:
- Workpiece positioning stability – the 800 x 800 x 15 mm plate provides a massive, vibration-resistant work surface on which the welded components are mounted. This directly translates into the repeatability of the welding path executed by the cobot.
- Precise referencing and clamping – the nitrided 100 x 100 mm mounting hole grid with grid lines allows for fast and repeatable positioning of workpieces using standard tools, eliminating the need to design dedicated fixtures.
- Workstation modularity – the consistent mounting grid allows the plate to be connected with other welding tabletops, making it easy to expand or reconfigure the workstation depending on the dimensions of the component.
- Resistance to welding working conditions – surface nitriding significantly increases its hardness and resistance to wear, spatter, and mechanical loads, making the plate a natural choice as a working element for a station operating in the immediate vicinity of the welding process.
- Rapid changeover – the zero-point clamping system used allows the entire clamping fixture along with the mounting plate to be replaced in a few minutes, while maintaining high positioning repeatability and eliminating the need to re-reference the workpiece.
- Reduced implementation time – using a ready-made, proven component as the working element allows for a faster transition from design to an operational workstation, eliminating the need to design a dedicated clamping surface from scratch.
Why the EXTREME series
The plate used in the weldCob comes from the EXTREME series—POS-MET’s top-of-the-line series of welding tabletops, designed for facilities that demand the highest precision and durability. Several features of this series directly impact the quality of the workstation’s operation:
- Very high geometric accuracy – EXTREME series tabletops are face-milled, and the mounting holes are precisely machined, which translates into an exact fit of system accessories and repeatable workpiece referencing.
- Flatness tolerance up to 0.1 mm – such a tight tolerance guarantees maximum setup repeatability, which is particularly important in series production and when working with components requiring strict geometry control.
- Full-surface plasma nitriding – this process increases the hardness of the tabletop, improves scratch resistance, and gives the surface anti-spatter and anti-corrosion properties, resulting in a longer service life under intensive operation.
- Full compatibility with system accessories – the EXTREME series mounting grid works with standard clamps, angles, fast-fix bolts, and 3D extension blocks, making it easy to quickly reconfigure the workstation for different components.
These very features—manufacturing precision, surface hardness and resistance, and compatibility with system accessories—were the deciding factors in choosing the EXTREME series as the working element in weldCob.
Why this approach makes engineering sense
Robotic cell designers are increasingly moving away from designing dedicated work surfaces “from scratch” in favor of using components already optimized for rigidity, modularity, and resistance to shop-floor conditions. A welding tabletop—designed from the ground up for operation in a welding environment—fits these requirements perfectly as a working element.
Thanks to this, weldCob is a cohesive workstation where the compact design and dedicated welding tabletop complement each other functionally—the cobot is responsible for precise movement and the welding process, while the tabletop ensures stable and repeatable workpiece positioning.
Summary
WeldCob demonstrates that a well-designed welding plate is much more than a simple work surface—it is a key functional element of a Mobile Welding Cobot. This approach combines the proven industrial robustness of POS-MET welding tables with modern automation, offering manufacturing companies a solution that is stable, precise, and fast to deploy.
Want to learn more about POS-MET welding tabletops or their applications in automated welding stations? Contact us.
