Provided is a robot control device that can suppress the stoppage of operations due to the detection of a contact error. The robot control device controls a robot that implements welding in association with contact with a to-be-welded object, said device comprising: an action stoppage unit that stops the action of the robot if detected that the robot has been subjected to an external force equal to or greater than a threshold; an instructing unit that instructs a welding power supply device to start welding; and a detection sensitivity adjustment unit that lowers the sensitivity at which as external force is detected at the action stoppage unit during a period of time from the point in time at which the instructing unit instructs the welding power supply device to start welding until a prescribed wait time has elapsed.

A robot controller includes a contact detection unit that detects contact of a welding wire protruding from a welding torch with a welding target, an override-value adjustment unit that sets and changes an override value for increasing or decreasing an operating speed of the robot from a predetermined speed, and a control unit which receives an operation signal from a teaching operation device and that controls the robot according to the operation signal at the operating speed based on the override value which is set by the override-value adjustment unit. When the contact of the welding wire with the welding target is detected by the contact detection unit, the control unit temporarily stops the robot, and the override-value adjustment unit decreases the override value.

A system and method of electric arc welding that includes a welding apparatus having an electric arc welder torch with sensors to determine the absolute position of the torch tip and the relative position of the torch tip to the weld joint during automatic welding. Combining absolute and relative positional data can be used to adjust the path of the robot during automated or robotic welding in response to variations in the weld joint.

An automatic welding system, an automatic welding method, a welding assistance device, and a program wherein the amount of correction of the welding speed is determined on the basis of the distance between an arc and the tip of a molten pool when the distance between the arc and the tip of the molten pool is within a predetermined range in arc welding performed while alternately weaving a welding torch in the front downward direction and the rear upward direction when the welding progress direction is the frontward direction with respect to a horizontally extending groove formed between two members to be welded aligned in the vertical direction.

The invention relates to a monitoring module (1 . . . 1″) for monitoring an electric arc machining process, the module comprising a camera (2), a photo flash lamp (3) and a control system (4) that controls the photo flash lamp (3) and a control system (4) that controls the photo flash lamp (3) in such a way that it illuminates when the camera (2) records the image. According to the invention, the components (2, 3, 4) are arranged in a common housing (5).

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.

A computerized method is provided for selecting a direction of formation of a slag puddle on a workpiece during processing of the workpiece by a thermal processing torch. The method comprises causing the torch to emit a thermal arc to gouge the workpiece at a first location without piercing through the workpiece. The method also includes translating the torch from the first location to a second location along a first direction on the workpiece while the torch is gouging the workpiece, the first direction substantially along the selected direction of slag puddle formation. The gouging and translating cause formation of a trench in a surface of the workpiece in the first direction. The method further includes causing the thermal arc emitted by the torch to pierce through the workpiece at the second location, which causes the formation of the slag puddle along the selected direction as guided by the trench.

A method includes displaying, on a display of a welding torch, a welding parameter in relation to a predetermined threshold range for the welding parameter, a target value for the welding parameter, or some combination thereof as a position of the welding torch changes, an orientation of the welding torch changes, a movement of the welding torch changes, or some combination thereof, to enable a welding operator to perform a welding operation with the welding parameter within the predetermined threshold range, at the target value, or some combination thereof. The welding parameter is associated with the position of the welding torch, the orientation of the welding torch, the movement of the welding torch, or some combination thereof.

A system and method to correct for height error during a robotic welding additive manufacturing process. One or both of a welding output current and a wire feed speed are sampled during a robotic welding additive manufacturing process when creating a current weld layer. A plurality of instantaneous contact tip-to-work distances (CTWD's) are determined based on at least one or both of the welding output current and the wire feed speed. An average CTWD is determined based on the plurality of instantaneous CTWD's. A correction factor is generated, based on at least the average CTWD, which is used to compensate for any error in height of the current weld layer.

The disclosed technology generally relates to welding, and more particularly to a consumable welding wire for metal arc welding, and a method and a system for metal arc welding using the consumable welding wire. In one aspect, a method of arc welding includes providing a welding wire comprising one or more alkaline earth metal elements. The method additionally includes applying power to the welding wire to generate a plasma arc sufficient to melt the welding wire. The method further includes depositing molten droplets formed by melting the welding wire onto a workpiece at a high deposition rate while regulating to maintain a substantially constant power delivered to the plasma arc.