Exploitable results Optical sensors for seam tracking and robot teaching applications The system is a kit composed of 2 elements, an optical sensor for joints tracking in welding applications, both in metal inert gas (MIG) or laser welding, and a machine vision supported system for aiding the programming tasks of solid state robot welding and cutting operations. The main benefit of the first element of the kit is that it allows high performances in welding processes with great accuracy and low cost. The second element of the kit offers an important aid in manual teaching, providing an accuracy greater than 0.1 mm in the coordinates acquisition process. It is also offers the best solution for calibrating programs obtained in offline programming systems. The complete kit eliminates inaccuracies and time consuming operations. Robotics for online laser operation for the automotive industry The global result of the project can be presented as the integration of a 6 axis anthropomorphic robot with neodymium yttrium aluminium garnet lasers transmitted through optical fibres for cutting and welding applications for the automative industry. This general concept can be split into the following specific results: development of the know-how in 3-dimensional solid state laser sheet metal processing for cutting and welding; generation of safety recommendations for the use of solid state lasers in 3-dimensional robotics applications; upgrading of laser, fibre and robot aspects in order to meet the necessary requirements of 3-dimensional cutting and welding applications; integration of capacitive sensors for tool height control during 3-dimensional cutting applications; design and development of a new optical sensor, integrated in a rotation axis compatible with the existing focusing head tool, which allows trajectory corrections during welding and automatic generation of robot trajectories; development of control and monitoring functions for the system, integration of the most relevant utilities in a central unit in order to assure easy use by a potential operator; development of the knowledge in the field of application of off line programming tools for robotics laser applications. The main areas of application are automotive and its auxiliary industry, aeronautical and household appliances sectors. Its main benefits are: cost of the system notably lower than those based on carbon dioxide lasers, lower optical maintenance costs, repeatability due to the constant quality of the beam, easy to set up, mount and dismount, significant shopfloor space saving, better choice for 3-dimensional aluminium sheet processing. The achievements so far are: specification of equipment: robot, laser, end effector, material handling, CAD/CAM system; specifications of control system; specification of tests beds; basic control functions; integration of base systems and first investigation. Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
