Optimizing weld seams with profile measurements

Inrotech A/S in Denmark relies on sensors from Micro-Epsilon to achieve optimal quality of weld seams in a fully automatic process. The company has developed a welding robot called "Inrotech-Crawler" which calculates welding processes in advance before carrying them out. Therefore, the robot uses the precise measurement values provided by the powerful laser profile scanner from Micro-Epsilon.

A scanCONTROL 2900 scanner is fixed on the Inrotech-Crawler and detects the geometry of the seam to be welded before the actual welding process starts. Only these high precision profile measurements enable the process to be automated. Due to its compact, lightweight design with integrated controller, the laser profile scanner is ideally suited to this measurement task.

Various connection possibilities offered by the SDK (Software Development Kit) enable the customer to directly transmit the profile data calibrated to their own software via scanCONTROL DLL. The Weldlogic technology from Inrotech then calculates, among other things, the number of welding passes, the position of the weld seams, the weld speed and the oscillation width. Directly after the calculation, the Crawler automatically performs the welding process.