China Deploys First Indigenously Built Robotic System To Handle Welding At Offshore Oil & Gas Rigs

China has deployed an AI-driven robotic system to handle complex marine welding work for offshore oil and gas rigs at a smart manufacturing hub in Tianjin.

The robot system has been developed by Offshore Oil Engineering Co. It can handle specialised offshore parts, like module nodes, buckle rings and strengthening rings for deepwater jackets.

The company stated that this system removes human workers from hazardous situations and toxic fumes, enabling them to become supervisors and managers of a faster automated workforce.

The system, which has already boosted operational efficiency by 40%, was specially designed for heavy-duty manufacturing.

It has a lifespan of two decades, a 30-ton maximum load capacity, and the ability to cut through and fuse steel up to 70 mm thick.

The robotic welder is equipped with advanced AI software, visual weld seam recognition and intelligent 3D laser vision.

It can scan the environment in real-time and make independent decisions, correcting itself in the process if it makes a mistake or if the command is modified by the human operator.

It also prepares a strategy to handle each piece of steel so that a human supervisor can understand how the final product will turn out before starting the process.

Through a single command, the robotic arm handles the entire process from start to finish, using real-time data.

AI precision ensures a first-pass qualification rate of over 98%, eliminating the need for expensive and time-consuming structural re-work.

The company added that getting the system ready for the market was a challenge as it underwent almost 10 months of on-site debugging to ensure it could withstand the harsh shipyard environment.

It was also tested more than 1000 times to ensure accuracy and to fine-tune the AI before deploying it to a production site.

China’s heavy industry, driven by the AI Plus Initiative, is moving from risky, labour-intensive shipyards to automated, self-correcting robotic systems.