Embedded System for Automation of Linear Welding Robot for Naval and Offshore Industry

Abstract

The continuous growth of the naval and offshore industries require that the processes be steady and reliable, forcing the industries to keep up and dealing with the most modern methods of development. Among these processes, the welding is one of the most commons that has been used widely in the construction of oil platforms. The welding is used in many areas, beyond the naval, it being dangerous for the welder because the surroundings contain fumes and radiation. Once the welding is an usual procedure and the surroundings of the work space can be harmful to human's health, bring more automation for the welding process can improve the productivity levels and move human operators away from danger. However in the naval industry the projects are individualized, making the process of implementation of robotic cells difficult. Using modular robots turn the weld more reliable but are not a optimal solution due it still need a human operator near the process to change the robot's parameters and detect possible errors. So, this work proposes a architecture to turn these robots into autonomous systems, being able to detect the features of the groove to be weld, perform the welding with minimum of human interference or none and inspect the final product.