Laser visual sensing for seam tracking in robotic arc welding of titanium alloys

Sensor errors arose from detecting the weld-seam profile of titanium alloys with laser-based vision sensors because the surface of such a material is highly reflective to a laser light. In this study, the correct weld-seam profile was established from the distorted raw data by signal processing. Furthermore, a fully automatic seam-tracking system was developed. This system featured training and saving of the template, autofinding of the starting welding point, auto-calibration, detection of seam position and groove dimensions and tracking control. The system was capable of tracking V-groove, fillet, lap and butt joints of titanium alloys with high accuracy of less than 0.4 mm.