• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.13-19
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• 1995

A dual purpose robot automation system is developed for both arc welding and spot welding by one robot within a cell. The need for automation of both arc welding and spot welding processes is urgent while the production volume is not so big as to accommodate separate stations for the two processes. Also, space is too narrow for separate stations to be settled down in the factory. A spot welding robot is chosen and the functions for arc welding are implemented in-house at cost of advanced functions. For the spot welding, a single pole type gun is used and the robot has to push down the plate to be wolded, which causes the robot positioning error. Therefore, position error compensation algorithm is developed. The basic functions for the arc welding processes are implemented using the digital I/O board of robot controller, PLC, and A/D conversion PCB. The weaving pattern is taught in meticulously by manual teach. A fixture unit is also developed for dual purpose. The main aspects of the system is presented in this paper especially in the design and implementation procedure. The signal diagrams and sequence logic diagrams are also included. The outcome of the dual purpose welding cell is the increased productivity and good production stability which is indispensable for production volume prediction. Also, it leads to reduction of manufacturing lead time.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 1985

Presented in this paper is a procedure of developing graphical simulation software for planning robot welding processes. Welding is by far the highest application area for industrial robots, and it has been in great need of such a simulator in designing robot work cells, in justifying the economics of robot welding and in planning robotized welding operations. The model of a robot welding cell consists of four components: They are an welding structure which is a collection of plates to be welded, a positioner to hold the welding structure, a robot with a weld torch, and a set of welding lines (in case of arc welding). Welding structure is modeled by using the reference plane concept and is represented as boundary file which is widely used in solid modeling. Robot itself is modeled as a kinematic linkage system. Also included in the model are such technical constraints as weaving patterns and inclination allowances for each weld joint type. An interactive means is provided to input the welding structure and welding lines on a graphics terminal. Upon completion of input, the program displays the welding structure and welding lines and calculates the center of mass which is used in determining positioner configurations. For a given positioner and robot configuration, the welding line segments that can be covered by the robot are identified, enabling to calculate the robot weld ratio and cycle time. The program is written in FORTRAN for a VAX computer with a Tektronix 4114 graphic terminal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.73-80
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• 2004

A dual purpose robot automation system is developed for both arc welding and spot welding by one robot within a cell. The need for automation of both arc welding and spot welding processes is urgent while the production volume is not so big as to accommodate separate station for the two processes. Also, space is too narrow for separate station to be settled down in the factory. A spot welding robot is chosen and the function for arc welding are implemented in-house at cost of advanced functions. For the spot welding, a single pole type gun is used and the robot has to push down the plate to be welded, which causes the robot positioning error. Therefore, position error compensation algorithm is developed. The basic functions for the arc welding processes are implemented using the digital I/O board of robot controller, PLC, and A/D conversion PCB. The weaving pattern is taught in meticulously by manual teach. A fixture unit is also developed for dual purpose. The main aspects of the system is presented in this paper especially in the design and implementation procedure. The signal diagrams and sequence logic diagrams are also included. The outcome of the dual purpose welding cell is the increased productivity and good production stability which is indispensable for production volume prediction. Also, it leads to reduction of manufacturing lead time.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.68-80
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• 1996

When a workpiece is to be arc welded around the outside corner, continuous welding without welding seam in the neighborhood of comer still remains a very difficult technique. Skilled welders weld comers by delicate“hand-eye coordination”while turning the workpiece manually, However, there is not a very clear solution to this problem in robotized arc welding process. In order to solve this problem, the coordination of a robot and a positioner with one or two axes is necessary. This paper presents a method of continuous welding around the corner of workpiece using the coordinated motion of a robot and a positioner. The positioner is either revolute jointed or prismatic jointed. In this paper, a clothoid curve is chosen for welding trajectory. The clothoid curve is excellent in connecting straight and curved weld-lines with good continuity and accommodates various welding conditions. By using this welding trajectory, the deceleration, which leads to widening of the melt and the heat affected zone, at comer area is reduced with strategic rotation of robot torch in coordination with a positioner providing smooth transition of welding torch orientation. Two types of special clothoid curves are developed for different weld slope conditions. These clothoid curves are applied to the case of linear and rotary Positioners at arc welding robot work-cell.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.314-319
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• 2002

The Automation and Control Group at the University of Brasilia is developing an automatic welding station based on an industrial robot and a controllable welding machine. Several techniques were applied in order to improve the quality of the welding joints. This paper deals with the implementation of a laser-based computer vision system to guide the robotic manipulator during the welding process. Currently the robot is taught to follow a prescribed trajectory which is recorded a repeated over and over relying on the repeatability specification from the robot manufacturer. The objective of the computer vision system is monitoring the actual trajectory followed by the welding torch and to evaluate deviations from the desired trajectory. The position errors then being transfer to a control algorithm in order to actuate the robotic manipulator and cancel the trajectory errors. The computer vision systems consists of a CCD camera attached to the welding torch, a laser emitting diode circuit, a PC computer-based frame grabber card, and a computer vision algorithm. The laser circuit establishes a sharp luminous reference line which images are captured through the video camera. The raw image data is then digitized and stored in the frame grabber card for further processing using specifically written algorithms. These image-processing algorithms give the actual welding path, the relative position between the pieces and the required corrections. Two case studies are considered: the first is the joining of two flat metal pieces; and the second is concerned with joining a cylindrical-shape piece to a flat surface. An implementation of this computer vision system using parallel computer processing is being studied.