ACT WELD: a unique off-line programming software tailored for robotic welding applications

摘要

Developed jointly by INSTITUT DE SOUDURE, specialized in the welding technology, ALEPH ogles, specialized in robotics/CAD, and other organisations (LMS, CTICM, CRIIF), ACT WELD is a high-performance, evolutionary product, really dedicated to arc welding. Its original approach is based on two main points 1) to offer the user the appropriate means to fully specify welding conditions, from the definition of the weld preparation to the detailed operating parameters. The INSTITUT DE SOUDURE contributed its know-how in this field to meet all requirements of welding applications and follow robotic welding methodology. 2) to exploit the full capacities of the computer to produce automatically the robotic cell program in accordance with welding sequence and parameters while avoiding collisions and checking equipment limits. Two types of paths ore considered: · weld-joint paths consist in following a curve between torch positions (i.e. ideal torch position and orientation possibly modified within tolerances to avoid collisions). · connexion paths to achieve transfer motions between two weld-joints are generated by the constraint method (the ALEPH Technologies' collision-free method) or by linear interpolation. In order to be accessible to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME's), this moderately priced system is running on MS-DOS PC's (with additional graphic card) or UNIX work stations.