Object oriented and distributed software applied to industrial robotic welding
Abstract
Associating robot manipulators with industrial welding operations is common and maybe one of the most successful applications of industrial robots. Nevertheless, it is far from being a solved technological process, mainly because the welding process is not fully understood but also because robots are still at an early satge of development, being difficult to use and program by regular operators. This is also true for Human Machine Interfaces (HMI), which are not intuitive to use and are therefore unsatisfactory. In this paper we discuss these problems and present a system designed with the double objective of serving our R&D efforts on welding applications, but also our need to assist industrial partners working with welding setups. Frequently industrial partners are not happy with available commercial systems, requiring tailored solutions that could be adapted to several robots and robot controllers. The developed system is explained in some detail, and demonstrated using two test cases which reproduce two situations very common in industry: multi‐layer butt welding (used on big structures requiring very strong welds) and multi‐point fillet welding (used for example on structural pieces for the construction industry).
Keywords
Citation
Norberto Pires, J., Loureiro, A., Godinho, T., Ferreira, P., Fernando, B. and Morgado, J. (2002), "Object oriented and distributed software applied to industrial robotic welding", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 149-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/01439910210419169
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited