A plate thickness test mechanism includes a detection section that detects an abnormality when a plate thickness is thinner than a desired plate thickness by a predetermined amount or more or thicker than the desired plate thickness by the predetermined amount or more, a determination section that determines whether or not the detection section functions normally, and a plate-shaped test jig that has a first plate portion having a plate thickness thinner than a predetermined specific plate thickness, and a second plate portion having a plate thickness thicker than the specific plate thickness. The determination section determines whether or not a plate thickness test is normally performed on the basis of a detection result of the detection section obtained when the detection section tests the plate thicknesses of the first and second plate portions by taking the desired plate thickness as the specific plate thickness.

An ultrasonic welding apparatus joins metal pieces, such as wires, which are placed in a weldment zone where the metal pieces are subjected to pressure through a compressive height anvil and an adjustable width anvil, and intimate contact is made with a sonotrode of an ultrasonic stack. A first electric motor actuates movement of the height anvil to develop a compressive force for ultrasonic welding of the metal pieces. A second electric motor can position the width anvil before and during welding. A sensor, such as a load cell, measures the compressive force developed. The sensor directly can measure the load on the height anvil independent of the ultrasonic stack. A software algorithm can compensate for deflection of the load cell sensor and lost motion in the first electric motor actuating movement.

In certain embodiments, a portable metal working robot system includes a metal working tool configured to perform a metal working process on one or more metal parts. In addition, the portable metal working robot system includes communication circuitry configured to receive control signals from a control system located remotely from the portable metal working robot system. The portable metal working robot system also includes control circuitry configured to control operational parameters of the portable metal working robot system in accordance with the received control signals.

Methods for forming pierce holes in a metal workpiece are disclosed. According to one implementation, upon a plasma torch be energized, the cutting axis of the torch is rotated repeatedly between first and second angular positions to produce successively deeper pierces in a workpiece until a pierce hole is produced through a thickness of the workpiece. According to other implementations pierce holes are produced by rotating the cutting axis of the plasma torch tip around a designated central axis of the pierce hole in a diametrically reducing manner so that the produced pierce hole has a tapered profile with a cross-sectional area of the pierce hole at a top surface of the workpiece being greater than a cross-sectional area of the pierced hole at a bottom surface of the workpiece.

In various examples, a computer-implemented method of generating instructions for a welding robot. The computer-implemented method comprises identifying an expected position of a candidate seam on a part to be welded based on a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of the part, scanning a workspace containing the part to produce a representation of the part, identifying the candidate seam on the part based on the representation of the part and the expected position of the candidate seam, determining an actual position of the candidate seam, and generating welding instructions for the welding robot based at least in part on the actual position of the candidate seam.

A laser welding control method, apparatus and system, and an electronic device are disclosed, the method includes: receiving a current position of a welding head fed back by an encoder; determining whether the current position reaches a set position; and in response to the welding head reaching the set position, sending a laser control signal to a laser device to control the laser device to output laser at the set position.

A welding system comprises a welding module and a moving module adapted to move the welding module to a predetermined welding position. The welding module includes a guiding device and a welding tool. The guiding device has a plurality of tubular guiding heads arranged in a row, ends of the plurality of tubular guiding heads are disposed close to joints of a plurality of cables so as to guide a plurality of welding wires to the joints of the plurality of cables. The welding tool has a plurality of tooth-shaped welding heads arranged in a row, ends of the plurality of tooth-shaped welding heads are disposed close to the joints of the plurality of cables and configured to simultaneously heat the plurality of welding wires guided to the joints of the plurality of cables, so as to simultaneously weld the joints of the plurality of cables onto a circuit board.

The present invention provides a welding robot that performs the elaborate weaving movements of skilled technicians and welds along the welding lines formed on the joints of the adjoined steel pipes.

In various examples, a computer-implemented method of generating instructions for a welding robot. The computer-implemented method comprises identifying an expected position of a candidate seam on a part to be welded based on a Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of the part, scanning a workspace containing the part to produce a representation of the part, identifying the candidate seam on the part based on the representation of the part and the expected position of the candidate seam, determining an actual position of the candidate seam, and generating welding instructions for the welding robot based at least in part on the actual position of the candidate seam.

A method for providing a referenced distance signal which corresponds to the distance between a contact tip of a welding torch and a workpiece to be machined, includes adjusting an operating point on a predetermined welding characteristic, which is defined at least by a wire feed rate, a welding voltage and/or a welding current, and a CTWD distance between the contact tip and the workpiece; determining a target parameter value of at least one parameter dependent on the CTWD distance for the operating point; determining an actual parameter value of the at least one parameter by measuring at least one of the present wire feed rate, welding voltage and/or welding current; modifying the determined actual parameter value as a function of a calculated difference between the target parameter value and a predetermined reference value; and outputting the referenced distance signal corresponding to the modified actual parameter value to a position control system of a robot arm.