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Mapping of Bead Geometry in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Systems Using Passive Vision

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Abstract

This work addresses the online extraction of the geometry characteristics (width and centerline) of deposited beads with monocular cameras for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). To enable online measurement and feature extraction from captured images, an adaptive threshold is used for segmentation, a Canny algorithm for edge detection, a Hough-line transform for feature identification of the bead edges, and a filtering step to attenuate the low signal-to-noise ratios of deposition processes. Online measurements are performed in single-bead and layer (multi-bead) scenarios. The proposed vision-based solution is experimentally implemented in a WAAM robotic system composed of a welding torch, a Kuka KR90 robot arm, a power source, wire feeder, and a passive monocular camera. Experimental results illustrate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed visual-based methodology.

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Notes

  1. CMT is a modified metal inert gas welding process based on short-circuiting transfer, characterized by low heat input and no-spatter.

  2. https://www.ros.org/.

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Acknowledgements

An early version of this paper was presented at the XXIII Congresso Brasileiro de Automática (CBA 2020). This study was financed in part by Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa e Inovação Industrial (Embrapii), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES) Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marcus O. Couto, Fernando Coutinho, Ramon R. Costa & Fernando Lizarralde

  2. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Arthur G. Rodrigues & João C. Payão Filho

  3. Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Universitetstunet 3, 1433, Ås, Norway

    Antonio C. Leite

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  1. Marcus O. Couto
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  2. Arthur G. Rodrigues
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  3. Fernando Coutinho
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  5. Antonio C. Leite
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Correspondence to Marcus O. Couto.

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Couto, M.O., Rodrigues, A.G., Coutinho, F. et al. Mapping of Bead Geometry in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Systems Using Passive Vision. J Control Autom Electr Syst 33, 1136–1147 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40313-021-00880-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40313-021-00880-0

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