Practical method to locate the initial weld position using visual technology

The autonomous localization of initial weld position is one of the key technologies to realize intellectualized welding. This paper presented a practical system and method to guide the welding robot to the initial position of the weld seam. Using template matching and polynomial interpolation technology of pixel, the position of initial weld position is located at the sub-pixel level in the image plane. Simple and practical calibration technology avoids the using of complicated algorithms and costly measuring apparatus. Aluminium and its alloys reflect the light strongly, which make the recognition of the weld seam more difficult than steel. Taking the butt joint weld seam of a curve aluminium alloy sheet as an example, the autonomous localization function is realized accurately. For those instances with bigger errors, we advanced a method to rectify the deviation. The welding robot can be guided to the initial position of planar weld seam and meets the requirements to execute welding operation directly. The whole procedure has the characters of simple, practical, and strong anti-jamming.