Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Retrofitting of a two-degrees-of-freedom welding torch displacement system
Submission Author:
Pablo Andretta Jaskowiak , SC
Co-Authors:
João Victor Fabri, Tiago Vieira da Cunha, Pablo Andretta Jaskowiak
Presenter: Pablo Andretta Jaskowiak
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0114
Abstract
Welding procedures are widely employed in engineering, in the most diverse application scenarios. The operation of the welding equipment is a key factor in welding, presenting two major concerns that, left unresolved, can lead to possible issues. The first is related to health hazards, given that, in some applications, the welding process can pose risks to equipment operators due to fumes, radiation and high temperatures. The second one concerns the weld quality, which can be heavily dependent on the operator's experience and skills. In extreme and repetitive application scenarios, both health and quality concerns become more urgent. In order to prevent or mitigate the aforementioned issues, the automation of welding procedures presents itself as a valuable alternative. Automated welding procedures may further aid researchers to develop detailed studies on process variables and their influence in weld characteristics, due to improvements in reproducibility and reliability of the processes as a whole. An important aspect of automated systems concerns their usability and user experience. Ideally, user interfaces should be simple to understand, allowing for rapid configuration, control, and monitoring of the equipment. Several welding equipments however, offer only dedicated user interfaces which usually have steep learning curves and are difficult to manipulate. Even though state of the art automation systems incorporate better user interfaces, cost constraints may prevent their widespread adoption. In this work we propose the retrofitting of a welding system with two orthogonal prismatic axes. With the development and deployment of an alternative control to the system we support not only the implementation of new user interfaces, but also the use of the original/legacy one. In order to evaluate the retrofitted system, we implemented a desktop application that provides an intuitive and simple user interface, which translates in an enhanced user experience. By coupling an Wifi adapter to the welding system we also allow for remote control, enabling the implementation of alternative user interfaces, for instance, in mobile devices. The resulting system allows for safer and easier operation of welding equipment.
Keywords
process automation, welding, cartesian manipulator, Microcontrollers
