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

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
• /
• 1992.04a
• /
• pp.3-9
• /
• 1992

This paper introduces the present status of application of arc welding robots, construction, engineering subjects, design requirement, example of design modification for welding by arc welding robot. As a conclusion closer cooperation of robot engineer, welding engineer and structural designer is emphasised. This is the summary of the work done by Working Group for IIW Commission XV, chaired by the author.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.1 s.94
• /
• pp.49-60
• /
• 1999

This paper addresses a welding task sequencing for robot arc welding process planning. Although welding task sequencing is an essential step in the welding process planning, it has not been considered through a systematic approach, but it depends rather on empirical knowledge. Thus, an effective task sequencing for robot arc welding is required. Welding perations can be classified by the number of welding robots. Genetic algorithms are applied to tackle those welding task sequencing problems. A genetic algorithm for traveling salesman problem (TSP) is utilized to determine welding task sequencing for a MultiWeldline-SingleLayer problem. Further, welding task sequencing for multiWeldline-MultiLayer welding is investigated and appropriate genetic algorithms are introduced. A random key genetic algorithm is also proposed to solve multi-robot welding sequencing : MultiWeldline with multi robots. Finally, the genetic algorithm are implemented for the welding task sequencing of three dimensional weld plate assemblies. Robot welding operations conforming to the algorithms are simulated in graphic detail using a robot simulation software IGRIP.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 1986.10a
• /
• pp.452-455
• /
• 1986

This paper deals with the basic problem in developing the robot for spot welding. The robot for spot welding is different with other robots by the heavy handling equipment which is attached to the wrist end of the robot. Differences in the robot body and controller are discussed. Welding equipments which make large effect to the system performance are reviewed.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
• /
• 2009.11a
• /
• pp.29-29
• /
• 2009

On this research, laser welding technology for manufacturing automobile body is studied. Laser welding technology is one of the important technologies used in the manufacturing of lighter, safer automotive bodies at a high level of productivity; the leading automotive manufacturers have replaced spot welding with laser welding in the process of car body assembly. Korean auto manufacturers are developing and applying the laser welding technology using a high output power Nd:YAG laser and a 6-axes industrial robot. On the other hand, the robot-based remote laser welding system was equipped with a long focal laser scanner system in robotic end effect. Laser system, robot system, and scanner system are used for realizing the high speed laser welding system. The remote laser welding system and industrial robotic system are used to consist of robot-based remote laser welding system. The robot-based remote laser welding system is flexible and able to improve laser welding speed compared with traditional welding as spot welding and laser welding. The robot-based remote laser systems used in this study were Trumpf's 4kW Nd:YAG laser (HL4006D) and IPG's 1.6kW Fiber laser (YLR-1600), while the robot systems were of ABB's IRB6400R (payload:120kg) and Hyundai Heavy Industry's HX130-02 (payload:130kg). In addition, a study of quality evaluation and monitoring technology for the remote laser welding was conducted. The welding joints of steel plate and steel plate coated with zinc were butt and lapped joints. The quality testing of the laser welding was conducted by observing the shape of the beads on the plate and the cross-section of the welded parts, analyzing the results of mechanical tension test, and monitoring the plasma intensity and temperature by using UV and IR detectors. Over the past years, Trumf's 4kW Nd:YAG laser and ABB's IRB6400R robot system was used. Nowadays, the new laser source, robot and laser scanner system are used to increase the processing speed and to improve the efficiency of processes. This paper proposes the robot-based remote laser welding system as a means of resolving the limited welding speed and accuracy of conventional laser welding systems.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 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 Welding and Joining
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.22-33
• /
• 1993

Arc sensor is indispensable to arc welding robot systems for compensating the joint misalignment such as mismatch of the workpiece, ill-conditioned positioner and thermal deformation during welding. Furthermore, the amount of these mismatches cannot be preivously expected, and changes from time to time. There are many kinds of seam trackers for correcting the welding path of the robot, where non-contact type sensors arc prevalently used in arc welding robot systems. In this study, an arc sensor was developed for GMA and FCA welding robot system. Since the arc sensor uses the arc characteristics during welding, the operating principle of the arc sensor must be adjusted according to the welding condition. Especially in GMA welding with the $CO_{2}$ shielding gas, the welding arc is not stable because of the short circuit and non-axial globular transfer mode of the molten droplet. In this study, the 2nd order least square curve fitting algorithm was adopted and the applicability of this algorithm was investigated for robot welding systems. For easy usage of the arc sensor, the operating parameters for arc sensor were limited to eight which can be easily determined by the operator.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.129-140
• /
• 1998

An interface system was developed to offer the welding capability to a robot controller which had not any embedded function for arc welding before, and also an arc sensor algorithm was proposed for weld seam tracking of the welding robot. For the interface system between the robot controller and welding equipments, data communication software and interface connections were composed. The interface system was mae to correspond welding condition, correction data, operation sequence and current status with the robot controller by mutual had shaking and digital signal transfer. Graphic user interface program developed under the environment of windows made it easy to monitor data communication and operation status, and to control welding and sensing sequence. Arc sensing algorithm proposed in this study to compensate torch position error was based on a fuzzy logic with the variables of current difference and current differenced change at torch weaving extremities. The developed interface system could be successfully implemented in between welding equipments and the robot controller, and showed normal status and exact function in data and signal communication between the systems. The whole robot welding system was then examined to verify its welding and seam tracking capabilities in horizontal fillet, vertical fillet, and 3-dimensional fillet weldment. The experiments revealed sound weld bead shapes and also good seam tracing results.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 1992.10b
• /
• pp.382-387
• /
• 1992

In order to obtain desired arc welding performance, we already developed an arc welding robot system that enabled coordinated motions of dual arm robots. In this system one robot arm holds a welding target as a positioning device, and the other robot moves the welding torch. Concerning to such a dual arm robot system, the positioning accuracy of robots is one important problem, since nowadays conventional industrial robots unfortunately don't have enough absolute accuracy in position. In order to cope with this problem, our robot system employed teaching playback method, where absolute error are compensated by the operator's visual feedback. Due to this system, an ideal arc welding considering the posture of the welding target and the directions of the gravity has become possible. Another problem still remains, while we developed an original teaching method of the dual arm robots with coordinated motions. The problem is that manual teaching tasks are still tedious since they need fine movements with intensive attentions. Therefore, we developed a 3-dimensional vision guided robot control method for our welding robot system with coordinated motions. In this paper we show our 3-dimensional vision sensor to guide our arc welding robot system with coordinated motions. A sensing device is compactly designed and is mounted on the tip of the arc welding robot. The sensor detects the 3-dimensional shape of groove on the target work which needs to be weld. And the welding robot is controlled to trace the grooves with accuracy. The principle of the 3-dimensional measurement is depend on the slit-ray projection method. In order to realize a slit-ray projection method, two laser slit-ray projectors and one CCD TV camera are compactly mounted. Tactful image processing enabled 3-dimensional data processing without suffering from disturbance lights. The 3-dimensional information of the target groove is combined with the rough teaching data they are given by the operator in advance. Therefore, the teaching tasks are simplified

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2004.11a
• /
• pp.79-84
• /
• 2004

In this study, a robot welding programming system is developed for gantry-type robot using a neutral CAD data format. The system automatically extracts welding line data from tile CAD model represented in IGES format and generates a robot program based on the weld line extracted. The welding program is simulated jar verification by using IGRlP, a virtual manufacturing solution. The robot welding programming system is demonstrated with a simple example.