Robotics and Autonomous Systems

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Robotics and Autonomous Systems 13 (1994) 291-296

An auto-programming system of MAG welding parameters for vision-based robot

C.S. W u *, D.J. Liu, L. W u
Harbin Institute of Technology, Dept of Welding Engineering, Harbin 150006, China Communicated by F.C.A. Groen Received 8 December 1993; revised 28 March 1994, 27 June 1994

Abstract
The on-line auto-programming of M A G welding parameters for a vision-based robot mainly aims at improving the adaptability of a welding robot in a complex welding environment, and it is a new kind of intelligent control method of weld quality. The authors developed an experimental system of an M A G welding robot with 3-D vision according to the requirements of real-time auto-programming of welding parameters. In the system, the seam geometry parameters, i.e., root gap and root face in a single V-groove, are used as input variables, while the welding process parameters, i.e., welding current and speed, are used as output variables. The relation between input and output variables is described by a fuzzy model. Experimental results show that the system can result in increased weld quality.

Keywords: Vision-based robot; Welding parameters; Auto-programming

1. Introduction
In robotic MAG (metal-active-gas) welding there are several factors that affect weld quality, e.g., inaccurate fixing of the workpiece, improper selection of welding data or insufficient joint preparation. In order to improve weld quality, the adaptability of an MAG welding robot has to be improved. The adaptability of an arc welding robot is that it can adjust the welding path and parameters automatically and instantaneously according to variations of welding conditions. It is one of the most important factors influencing

* Corresponding author.

weld quality and efficiency in robot arc welding because even small deviations from the ideal joint geometry may result in decreased weld quality, e.g., an increasing gap may result in burnthrough and a decreasing gap may lead to incomplete penetration if the welding parameters are constant during the welding pass. In order to increase the adaptability of a welding robot, it must be equipped with auto-programming systems of the welding path, the position and angle of the welding torch, and the welding parameters. A lot of research work has been done in the former two kinds of systems, and there are some commercial products [1-6]. Wezenbeek [7] developed a system which observes the weld pool by registering the radiation emitted by the pool with a camera.

0921-8890/94/$07.00 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI 0 9 2 1 - 8 8 9 0 ( 9 4 ) 0 0 0 1 4 - X

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It was intended for control of the weld quality by adjustment of the torch position and adjustment of the welding parameters according to images of the weld pool. In this paper, the authors introduce an auto-programming system of welding parameters for an MAG welding robot on the basis of real-time measurement of the V-groove geometry.

Fig. 2. Definition of geometrical parameters of a V-groove seam.

2. The system structure Fig. 1 shows a sketch of the system structure. The vision sensor consists of a CCD camera and a structured light projector. The sensor and the welding torch form a rigid unit. A very narrow band light source, a He-Ne laser, is used in combination with a narrow band interference filter so as to reduce the interfering light components of the arc. The laser beam is projected onto the workpiece surface in the vicinity of the seam. By mounting a cylindrical lens in front of the laser a stripe of light is generated across the groove, the light reflected by the surfaces is filtered and then received by a CCD camera (384 491 pixels). A monitor can display the stripe image of the workpiece surface. The image interface is used to do the work of analogue-digital transformation. The information from the camera is then processed by the central computer, and the pattern formed by the reflected stripe may be

used for identifying seam type in welding or to determine seam geometry parameters.

3. Measn__ring of seam geometry A V-groove is shown in Fig. 2 and the seam geometrical parameters that can be measured are: included angle (a), root face (D), and root gap (B). Normally the included angle is constant during a welding pass but the size of root face and root gap may fluctuate siguifieantly [8]. The variations can be caused by inaccurate joint preparation, heat distortion or bad fitting. Varying root gaps or root faces have a significant influence on the welding result, primarily the penetration. By timely adjusting the relevant welding parameters, e.g., welding current and welding speed, deviations from the specified seam geometry can be compensated so that uniform penetration can be obtained. Thus, real-time measuring of the seam geometry, i.e., root gap and root face, is a key problem of auto-programming of welding parameters.

Central Computer
for Processing

3.1. Elimination of arc light interference

During the MAG welding process, there exists serious interference of arc light. To reduce the interfering light components of arc, a narrowband filter and a special sequence of image sampiing were used. Fig, 3 shows t h e sequence of sampling and control. At the m o m e n t of image sampling, welding current ~ voltage are low, ered instantaneously so that the arc light is also reduced and the signal-noise ratio of the image is increased. In Fig. 3, tp is the time interval of image sampling and control, t~ is the time period

madControlling

Welding Direction

Fig. 1. Sketch of the system structure.

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during which welding current and voltage are lowered, t! is the time lag between the moment of lowering the welding current and voltage and the moment of image sampling, t 2 is the time interval within which the image is captured and A / D transformation is finished.
3.2. I m a g e processing

a
d,,

J.,

During system operations the light plane is projected perpendicularly onto the surface of the workpiece, and a stripe of light is generated across the groove. The CCD camera captures the image of the stripe of light, and the image interface carries out image digitization. The seam shape and geometry can then be calculated by analysing the stripe of light. This is the task of image processing. Usually the stripe of light can be detected on the basis of its brightness, i.e., its grey value in the digital image. The centerline of the stripe of light is determined by selecting the pixels with the maximum grey value. A series of measures are taken to compensate the error of grey value distribution of the stripe of light and to reduce noise. In order to increase the speed of image processing, a method of opening window in the digital image is used to reduce the workload of image processing, i.e., only the partial image

I,~i,~

1c

Ij

Im~.

Fig. 4. View of the stripe of light.

around the stripe of light is processed. The image pixels are 256 (H) x 256 (V). The image window is determined as 128 ( H ) 64 (V) based on experimental results. Thus, the amount of data for image processing is reduced by 7/8. After a series of image processing the view of the stripe of light as shown in Fig. 4 is obtained. Based on the digital image of the stripe of light, the seam geometry parameters can be calculated by the following formula:
B=K,(Ia-I,. ),

(1) (2)

D:K,.(L-J,,+J,,,),

,p
Welding Current

Welding Voltage

---q ,.~, b

1.,I

11 II

--I I
Sampling Pulse

where B is the root gap, D is the root face, K, and K,. are the practical sizes represented by a single pixel of the digital image in x (horizontal) and y (vertical) directions, respectively, L is the amount of pixels corresponding to the workpiece thickness, I c and /~t are the x-direction pixels of point c and point d in Fig. 4, .I,, and J,,, are the y-direction pixels of point b and point c in Fig. 4. K x and K,, are determined by an off-line program in the camera and projector calibration phase by observing the laser stripe on an accurately machined V-block gauge of known dimensions.

Control Period

4. The fuzzy model

Fig. 3. The sequence of sampling and control (t~ = 20 ms, I, = 30 ms, t,,. = 60 ms, t v = {/.75 s).

A fuzzy model was established to describe the relationship between the seam geometry, and the

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welding parameters. The input variables of the model are the sizes of root gap and root face, and the output variables of the model are the welding current and welding speed. In MAG welding, the vision system measures the root gap and root face based on the seam image, and the robot welding system adjusts the welding current and welding speed based on the fuzzy model. The mathematical formulation is briefly introduced as follows: There are two input variables sets: D={d}, B={b}, (3)

penetration. Finally, the membership functions were modified and their distribution parameters were determined. For D,
t.~e(d) exp ~--~D } ] d~D,

(7)

where e represents one of the fuzzy linguistic variables in Eq. (5), a D and b D are distribution parameters of the membership function. And for I, / ~ f ( i ) = exp \ al , //~I, (8)

where D is the root face, and B is the root gap. And there are also two output variable sets: I={//}, V={V~}, (4)

where I is the welding current, and V is the welding speed. Taking the fuzzy logic relation between D and I as example, the fuzzy linguistic variables for D are described as:
{NBD, NMD, NSD, OD, PSD, PMD, PBD},

where f represents one of the fuzzy linguistic variables in Eq. (6), a t and bI are distribution parameters of the membership function. The fuzzy relation between t h e input variable D = { D i} and the output variable I = {I i} can be expressed by a fuzzy matrix:
RiD=[(rlO)ij]mxn ,

(9) (10)

(5)
where N B D - negative big deviation, N M D negative medial deviation, N S D - negative small deviation, O D - zero deviation, P S D - positive small deviation, P M D - positive medial deviation, and P B D - positive big deviation. The fuzzy linguistic variables for I are:
{NBt, NMI, NSI, 0I, PSI, PMI, PBI}

( r l D ) i j = r I V r 2 V r 3 V r4, r I = [tZPnD(d)i A ~ p B t ( l i ) j ] V [I.teMD(d)i A tZPMl(Ii)j], r 2 = [ t x f s D ( d ) i A tZpst(Ii)j] V [tXoD(d)i A p~o,(Ii)j], r3 = [UNs ,(d)i A

(11)

(12)

(6)

where N B I - negative big adjustment, N M I negative medial adjustment, N S I - negative small adjustment, O I - zero adjustment, P S I - positive small adjustment, P M I - positive medial adjustment, P B I - positive big adjustment. The membership functions were determined according to experiments and experiences. Firstly, MAG welding experiments were carried out to find out the relationship between the seam geometry (root face and root gap) and the weld penetration. Through analysing experimental results and experience data, the membership functions were assumed in the form of a Gaussian function. Then the validity of this assumption was verified by welding experiments to show whether it describes the influence of seam geometry on weld

V [IZNMD(d)i A IXNMt(Ii)i], r 4 = [tZNBD(d)i A # N B , ( I i ) j ] ,

(13) (14)

where A represents minimization and v maximization. Similarly, we can obtain R v D , RiB and RvB. Based on the deductive and synthetic rules of fuzzy variables, the following equation can be obtained:
ID = D o o RID,

(15)

where o represents the synthetic operation of fuzzy relation, D O is the fuzzy Variable of root face deviation, and I o is the fuzzy variable of welding current. Similarly, we can obtain IB, V D and V B.

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295

Finally, the following equations are obtained:

I i = atlt~ + ~IIB,
(16)

the uniform penetration and weld width were obtained by using the welding parameters given by the system.

1/; =

avVt> + / 3 v V. ,

(17)

where a t, /3I, al; and /3 v are the adjusting factors whose values are determined through experiments. Eqs. (16) and (17) show how the welding current and welding speed are altered if the root gap a n d / o r the root face at a certain point of a seam are varied in order to keep the stability of the welding process and to obtain a weld of uniform penetration.

6. Conclusion
An on-line auto-programming system of MAG welding parameters for vision-based robot has been developed. The structured light vision sensor can be used as a measuring device for seam geometry. The measures taken to restrain the interference of welding arc light are effective. The real-time measurement of seam geometry, i.e., root gap and root face, are realized. The fuzzy model established can describe the relation between the seam geometry and the welding parameters. Experimental results show that when the root gap changes from 0 mm to 2 mm and the root face from 0 mm to 3 ram, uniform penetration and weld width have been obtained by using the system.

5. Experiment result
The auto-programming experiments of M A G welding parameters were carried out under the conditions of a non-uniform cross-section of seams. The workpiece material was low-carbon steel. The thickness of the work pieces was 8 mm. The included angle of groove was 90 , the root face varied from 0 mm to 3 mm and the root gap from 0 mm to 2 mm. Fig. 5 shows the upper and back appearance of the weld. It can be seen that

References
[1] J.D. Lane, State of the Art: Robotic tVeldmg (IFS Ltd., UK, 1987) 1-10. [2] W.K. Weisel, Robotics: The future is now, Pro~. 15th Int. Symp. on Industrial Robots, Tokyo. Japan (1985) Vol. 1, 9 15. [3] U. Dilthey, Sensor technique for welding robots: State of development and trends, H W Doc. XIl-1129-89 (1989) 405 -408. [4] R.J. Beanie, S.K. Cheng and P.S. Logue, The use of vision sensors in multipass welding applications. WeMmg Journal 67 (11) (1988) 28-33. [5] Y. Li and L. Wu, A laser scanning sensor used in welding process control, Robots 13 (6) (1991) 49 52. [6] A. Cullison and B. Irving, AWS international welding exposition: 1993 review, Welding Journal 72 (8) (1993) 29-36. [7] H.C.F.M. Wezenbeek, A system for m e a s u r e m e n t and control of weld pool geometry in automatic arc welding, Ph.D. thesis. 1992, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. [8] L.O. Larsson and P. Hedenborn, Laser scanners as a measuring device and its application in arc welding, Proe. Int, Conf on Joining of'Materials, JO~l~l-O, Helsingor, Denmark (1993) 44-50.

(a)

upper

!b)

back

Fig, 5. The appearance of the weld.

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CS. Wu et at/Robotics and Autonomous Systems 13 (1994) 291-296 L Wu, born in 1935, graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) with a diploma in welding engineering in 1959. Since then he has been working at HIT. In 1980 he was at the Welding Research Institute of Osaka University in Japan as a Visiting Research Fellow. In 1982 he was appointed Associate Professor and Deputy Head o f the Welding Engineering Department, and in 1986 he was aPgointed Professor and Director of the ~ Robot Research Institute. From 1990 to 1992 he was the Vice President, and currently he is Chairman of the Administration Commission. He is the author/co-author of nearly I00 papers and 4 books. His current research interests are vision-based welding process control, robot welding, and remote control of arc welding, H e is a member of the Intelligent Robot Expert Group of the State High-Tech Commission, and the Chairman of the Robotic Welding Commission of the Chinese Welding Society.

C.S. Wn, born in 1959, received from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China, a Bachelor's degree in 1982, a Master's degree in 1984, and a Ph.D. degree in 1988. Since 1984 he has served as a faculty member there. From 1986-1987 he held a visiting position at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. He was a Lecturer from 1986 to 1988, and an Associate Professor from 1989 to 1991 at HIT. Currently he is a Professor of welding engineering at HIT. From 1993 to 1995 he is a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Joining and Welding, Berlin Technical University, Germany. He is the author of two books and the author/co-author of 50 papers. Professor Wu's research interests include vision-based process control of robotic arc welding, computer-aided welding, and computer simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer in arc welding. He is a senior member of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, and a member of Computer-Aided Welding Commission of the Chinese Welding Society.

D.J. Liu, born in 1968, received a Bachelor's degree in 1990, and a Master's degree in 1993 from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). Since 1993 he has been a Research Assistant at the Center of Modern Production Technology of HIT, where he is currently working towards the Ph.D. degree. His research interests include microcomputer control of welding power supply, vision-based sensing and control of arc welding.