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Online programming system for robotic fillet welding in Industry 4.0

Ignacio Diaz-Cano (Department of Automatic, Electronic, Computer Architecture and Communication Networks Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)
Fernando M. Quintana (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)
Miguel Lopez-Fuster (Department of Automatic, Electronic, Computer Architecture and Communication Networks Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)
Francisco-Javier Badesa (Department of Automatic, Electronic, Computer Architecture and Communication Networks Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)
Pedro L. Galindo (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)
Arturo Morgado-Estevez (Department of Automatic, Electronic, Computer Architecture and Communication Networks Engineering, University of Cádiz Cádiz Spain)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 29 October 2021

Issue publication date: 21 April 2022

216

Abstract

Purpose

Fillet welding is one of the most widespread types of welding in the industry, which is still carried out manually or automated by contact. This paper aims to describe an online programming system for noncontact fillet welding robots with “U”- and “L”-shaped structures, which responds to the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors propose an online robot programming methodology that eliminates unnecessary steps traditionally performed in robotic welding, so that the operator only performs three steps to complete the welding task. First, choose the piece to weld. Then, enter the welding parameters. Finally, it sends the automatically generated program to the robot.

Findings

The system finally managed to perform the fillet welding task with the proposed method in a more efficient preparation time than the compared methods. For this, a reduced number of components was used compared to other systems: a structured light 3 D camera, two computers and a concentrator, in addition to the six-axis industrial robotic arm. The operating complexity of the system has been reduced as much as possible.

Practical implications

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no scientific or commercial evidence of an online robot programming system capable of performing a fillet welding process, simplifying the process so that it is completely transparent for the operator and framed in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Its commercial potential lies mainly in its simple and low-cost implementation in a flexible system capable of adapting to any industrial fillet welding job and to any support that can accommodate it.

Originality/value

In this study, a robotic robust system is achieved, aligned to Industry 4.0, with a friendly, intuitive and simple interface for an operator who does not need to have knowledge of industrial robotics, allowing him to perform a fillet welding saving time and increasing productivity.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Plan estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020 under contract (AUROVI) EQC2018-005190-P. Fernando M. Quintana would like to acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades for the support through FPU grant (FPU18/04321).

Citation

Diaz-Cano, I., Quintana, F.M., Lopez-Fuster, M., Badesa, F.-J., Galindo, P.L. and Morgado-Estevez, A. (2022), "Online programming system for robotic fillet welding in Industry 4.0", Industrial Robot, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 391-401. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-07-2021-0137

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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