An intelligent programmable automated welding system: concept and design

A control architecture for designing and implementing intelligent automated welding using multiple sensors is described. The system includes both an on- and offline intelligent 'engineers assistant' welding planner and a hierarchical intelligent real-time control system for automated/robotic welding. A system goal is to be able to produce very small quantities of parts with little or no robot programming. The system concept applies state-of-the-art sensing technology and advanced real-time adaptive control for robotic welding systems within a framework of modular software and hardware interfaces. Existing control technologies, expert systems, and database management software are used wherever possible. The success of the effort to date has shown the feasibility of the concept and design.< >