Evolution of Process Automation in Welding Cells: A Literature Review

Welding is a method of joining metallic materials by heating them until an appropriate temperature. This process is crucial for the manufacturing of several components, from microelectronics to structural components of heavy machinery. With the advent of industrial automation, welding robots were developed and implemented in industry, aiming to increase productivity, quality, and accuracy of the process. With the dawning of the 21st century and arrival of Industry 4.0, new opportunities for improvement in the welding process arose, such as the Cyber Physical Systems - CPS, augmented reality, and virtual reality. These techniques go beyond the welding operation automation, by providing greater control of the process control, crossing information of the planned method with the actual operation, in a dynamic and adaptive way. In this context of manifold welding technologies, the present work carries out a literature review with the objective of mapping the main technological developments of arc welding automation over time.