Research On Path Planning For Remote Laser Welding System

In a conventional laser motion system the relative motion between the laser beam and the workpiece is carried out by movement of the workpiece itself, and/or the laser head with focusing optics. With the limit of the inertia of the motion system, the welding time is in the range of 20 to 50% of the circle time of a process. The remote welding process is characterized by long focal lengths and a highly dynamic beam deflection by mirrors to position the beam on the workpiece. This new technology can reduce the non-productive times during a manufacturing process and the welding time can be increased up to more then 90%.In this study, firstly, the principle and characteristic of the remote laser welding system was investigated. Its path planning was separated into two parts which were laser beam path planning and scanner path planning and the guide line of the path planning is to reduce the movement of the scanner as far as possible to simple paths, which eases the burden on the drive units as they don't have to abruptly accelerate or brake. Secondly, the path planning of the two kinds of remote laser welding that are CO2-laser remote welding gantry system and robot assisted remote welding system was investigated. The investigations were concentrated on the synchronous and asynchronous movement of the scanner and laser beam in the path planning. Lastly, some experiments about the module of path planning in the off line programming system were given and the feasibility of the algorithm of path planning was proved.