HII and Path Robotics to Partner on 'Physical AI'
HII, America's largest shipbuilder, and Path Robotics, a company specializing in physical AI for manufacturing, will host a ceremony on February 17 to sign a memorandum of understanding. The partnership is focused on advancing shipbuilding through the use of physical AI, including live welding and assembly demonstrations. The collaboration will take place at Path Robotics' headquarters and innovation center.
- Path Robotics' core technology, Obsidian™, is a foundational AI model for welding, trained on tens of millions of inches of weld data. This allows their robotic welding cells to adapt to variations in parts in real-time, a significant advantage over traditional automation that struggles with the non-repetitive tasks common in shipbuilding. - The partnership aims to address a critical labor shortage of skilled welders in the heavy industry and shipbuilding sectors. Path's technology is designed to fill this gap, increasing welding capacity without relying on a shrinking labor pool. - HII has been actively investing in digital and automated technologies through its Integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) initiative, which includes laser scanning, augmented reality, and additive manufacturing. The upcoming aircraft carrier, Enterprise (CVN 80), is slated to be the first ship built entirely without paper blueprints. - The collaboration will be represented by Eric Chewning, HII's Executive Vice President of Maritime Systems & Corporate Strategy, and Andy Lonsberry, CEO and co-founder of Path Robotics, at the signing ceremony. - Path Robotics, founded in 2018, has raised over $300 million to develop its "physical AI" which combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision to automate complex manufacturing processes. - Studies suggest that automation in shipbuilding can lead to significant efficiencies, potentially reducing engineering time by up to 30% and assembly time by around 20%. Robotic welding, a key focus of this partnership, can be up to 10 times faster than conventional methods. - HII is not only the largest military shipbuilder in the U.S. but also the largest producer of unmanned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy. The company's Mission Technologies division focuses on unmanned systems, AI/ML, and C6ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance). - The shipbuilding industry has historically been slower to adopt automation compared to sectors like automotive manufacturing due to the high variability and complexity of the work. This partnership represents a significant step towards more advanced, AI-driven manufacturing in shipbuilding.
