Ep. 07 - How Path Robotics is Solving America's Welder Shortage скачать в хорошем качестве

Ep. 07 - How Path Robotics is Solving America's Welder Shortage

There are welding robots collecting dust in every corner of American manufacturing. They didn't work. Path Robotics thinks they've finally cracked the code—with AI. Heather Carroll is the Chief Revenue Officer of Path Robotics, an Ohio-based company that's trained its AI on 10+ million inches of real weld data. Unlike traditional robots that need perfect parts and pre-programming, Path's system sees, adapts, and learns like a human welder—but faster. In this episode, we cover: → Why every welding robot you've seen probably failed (and what's different now) → The looming welder shortage: 43% of the workforce retiring in 10 years → How Path's "Obsidian" foundation model learns from real welds, not simulators → Robots-as-a-Service: Why CapEx is dead for AI-driven manufacturing → Shipbuilding applications and a major announcement coming in February → NAVSEA compliance: Proving weld parameters humans can't → Congressional testimony on reshoring and AI regulation → Why data centers are stealing shipbuilding's welders Path has ~100 robots deployed, raised $300M in Series D funding, and is entering the defense and shipbuilding space with some big announcements on the horizon. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 02:26 – Company Overview: 200 People, $300M Series D, Columbus HQ 03:15 – Origin Story 05:08 – What Path Does Today: 100 Robots in the Field 06:04 – Markets: Utility Poles, Data Centers, AI Infrastructure 07:42 – The Misconception around Welding Robots 09:00 – How Path's Vision System Works (CAD + Real-Time Scanning) 10:09 – Navigating NAVSEA and Defense 12:00 – Heather's Background: Warehouse AI to Manufacturing 13:08 – The Welder Shortage Crisis (43% Retiring in 10 Years) 19:06 – Robots-as-a-Service Model 20:50 – Government Adopting RaaS 22:12 – 10 Million Inches of Weld Data 24:00 – Path AI vs. 40-Year Master Welder: Who Wins? 25:05 – Simulation Acceleration: Millions of Inches per Hour 26:04 – What Humans Still Do Better 27:03 – Tolerance & Decision-Making 27:37 – NAVSEA Compliance 29:00 – What's Next: Fit-Up Automation with "Epsilon" Model 30:12 – Market Opportunity: Defense, Data Centers, Energy 31:04 – Congressional Testimony 32:05 – Policy Message: Align Incentives with RaaS, Not Just CapEx 33:07 – Permitting Bottlenecks for Grid & Power 34:00 – Federal vs. State AI Regulation Debate 34:59 – Lightning Round 38:36 – Advice: Broaden Your Understanding of Physical AI 40:00 – Parting Shot 🔗 CONNECT Heather Carroll:   / heatherhcarroll   Path Robotics: https://www.path-robotics.com 📺 SUBSCRIBE for more conversations on shipbuilding, sea power, and the future of American manufacturing. #Robotics #AI #Welding #Manufacturing #PhysicalAI #Shipbuilding #DefenseTech #Reshoring #MadeInAmerica