JOINT TRACKING WITH A SELF-TEACHING SYSTEM

Abstract

One stage of manufacturing shipping containers includes welding long corrugated iron sheets to stringers. Before welding, the corrugated iron sheet is aligned with the stringer and the joint is defined as an intersection of two surfaces. Until recently, this weldment was performed manually. Automating this operation presents a number of difficulties and is beneficial only if the cost of the final product is lower than what it was when done manually. The preparation of weldment components, their positions on the fixture and the distortion during welding require an adaptive control system for joint tracking. A self-teaching system, where the robot is entirely guided by information provided by sensors, without any previous learning of a reference trajectory, is essential in this case. The aim of this study is to prove that it is possible to perform tracking on a plane through a self-teaching system. The paper presents the method of joint location, the operating principle of the sensor and its mechanical and metrological properties.