Development of Automated Welding System for Construction: Focused on Robotic Arm Operation for Varying Weave Patterns

Abstract

Welding is a significant part of the construction industry. Since most high-rise building construction structures rely on a robust metal frame welded together, welding defect can damage welded structures and is critical to safety and quality. Despite its importance and heavy usage in construction, the labor shortage of welders has been a continuous challenge to the construction industry. To deal with the labor shortage, the ultimate goal of this study is to design and develop an automated robotic welding system composed of a welding machine, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), robotic arm, and visual sensors. This paper proposes and focuses on automated weaving using the robotic arm. For automated welding operation, a microcontroller is used to control the switch and is added to a welding torch by physically modifying the hardware. Varying weave patterns are mathematically programmed. The automated weaving is tested using a brush pen and a ballpoint pen to clearly see the patterns and detect any changes in vertical forces by the arm during weaving. The results show that the weave patterns have sufficiently high consistency and precision to be used in the actual welding. Lastly, actual welding was performed, and the results are presented.