High-precision measurement of weld seam based on narrow depth of field lens in laser welding

In laser beam welding, when the width of weld seam is less than 0.1 mm, present vision sensor-based measurements can barely obtain the seam width and seam position stably and reliably. A seam measuring method based on narrow depth of field (NDOF) is proposed in this article, which aims to detect this kind of narrow and small weld seam with great accuracy. This measurement system consists of a multiple optical magnifier, a Charge-Coupled Device/Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors (CCD/CMOS) camera, and an external light-emitting diode lighting unit. First, the principle of the NDOF method is explained. Second, key features of weld seam are extracted by image-processing algorithm. Lastly, the result of experiment reveals that the NDOF method can meet the demanded detection precision. Measurement accuracy for the seam width and seam position is 6 and 8 mu m, respectively.