Novarc Scales Automated Welding Solutions with OMRON Sysmac Control

Challenge
Novarc Technologies specializes in automated welding systems for demanding industrial applications where weld quality, repeatability, and safety are critical. Through platforms such as SWR and NOVAI, the company combines advanced automation, machine vision, and coordinated motion to improve welding productivity and consistency. SWR is Novarc’s pipe welding cobot platform, while NOVAI adds machine vision and cognitive automation for more adaptive welding operations.

Operating in this space also involves complex control and integration demands. Automated welding systems must coordinate motion, weld process control, safety, vision, and communications in real time, often across a mix of devices and industrial protocols already present in customer environments. That level of synchronization is critical to achieving repeatable results, maintaining reliability, and supporting successful deployment across a range of weld cells. For Novarc, meeting these demands required an automation platform that could deliver deterministic coordinated motion, dependable integration, and a scalable foundation for machine design.

Solution
Novarc standardized with OMRON Sysmac-based architecture to unify motion and weld machine control in a single design. At the center of Novarc’s Sysmac architecture is the NJ301 controller. The controller becomes the central command for 1S EtherCAT servo drives, I/O for industrial protocol communication, as well as proximity sensors, relays, and power supplies. The NJ301 is programmed over Sysmac Studio software, providing a unified environment for logic simulation, motion tuning, servo configuration, and team‑based troubleshooting.

In the SWR system, the NJ controller manages coordinated multi‑axis motion, cam profiles, and weld‑parameter logic, while 1S servos drive both the robot axes and spool‑rotation positioners. The platform integrates with Lincoln and Miller welding systems via DeviceNet. The platform also uses CANopen for handheld operator remotes and relies on EtherCAT™ for precise servo control.

For the NOVAI platform, the NJ controller synchronizes robot control with Novarc’s vision system and Miller welding equipment. All while an OMRON safety relay manages cell level safety robots. Throughout development, OMRON provided hands‑on integration guidance, onsite training, and coordinated supply‑chain assistance. Including introductions to ecosystem partners for panel builds and future system expansion.

Result
By consolidating motion control, machine logic, and commissioning workflows into the Sysmac architecture, Novarc reduced the number of controllers, industrial protocols, and programming software. This reduction of components then reduced engineering and commissioning time. The standardized approach lowered integration complexity by enabling a repeatable control pattern that could be scaled across systems by quickly integrating into already installed weld cell equipment. To pair with the technology advance, Novarc gained faster troubleshooting and higher system uptime through OMRON’s onsite support, training, and motion‑tuning expertise.

Sysmac embodied the centralized control that Novarc needed to reduce design complexity while delivering world -class weld quality that their customers demanded. The scalable Sysmac platform made it easier to replicate builds with consistent performance is not ready to be deployed globally.