A Smart Laser Cutter

Abstract

Researches on laser-metal interactions for industrial applications are currently underway at the "Etablissement Technique Central de l'Armement" (ETCA). Our goal is to design a multilaser flexible workshop for industrial machining tasks such as welding, various surface treatments, cutting. Because of its wide range of possible applications the laser tool provides an excellent frame for robotic studies. Some difficulties arise as soon as it becomes obvious that, due to the complexity of the phenomena to control, the environment conditions... no practical model can be found out. This is why we chose a progressive approach which should lead to design a general purpose laser robot with the help of human controlled iterations onto the system knowledge.