In order to achieve the best quality of laser welding products in automatic industrial systems and also considering the importance of short cycle time and minimum human interface, process monitoring systems are provided by different companies. Scansonic MI specializes in laser welding, brazing, hardening, seam tracking, and process monitoring and has manufactured a variety of items in these areas. Scansonic SCeye is a real-time image processing system that includes a laser welding and brazing process recording and control unit This system’s unique feature is its use of artificial intelligence to detect the smallest holes and splashes and control the quality of welding or brazing. RLW-A is an optical seam tracking for far-field welding and ALO4 is a Laser welding and brazing with tactile seam tracking from Scansonic, that use this monitoring system. Video 1 shows an overview of SCeye’s performance in process monitoring, and it can also be seen that the system allows for intelligent visualization of the process and part seam results.
SCeye Function Description [1]
The SCeye system is a coaxially integrated camera and can record the following data:
- Image information from the process zone
- Parameters of laser optics
- Fieldbus signal for controlling the optical (digital switching signals)
Also, the typical signals that are important for good quality welding can be recorded and displayed in an easy-to-use web GUI. making the system an excellent diagnostic tool for maintenance personnel. These are some of the typical signals:
- Laser power
- Wire feed rate
- Robot speed
In addition, the SCeye monitoring system has benefits like fully integrated in optics, powerful evaluation electronics for real-time image processing, integration into existing optics, and also allows determination of welding parameters that cause any kind of welding issue.
Due to the advantages of SCeye system, some products of this company, such as RLW-A and ALO4 are equipped with it. These two products are optimized for automatic processing.
RLW-A: Reduced cycle times with contactless seam tracking [2]
By using optical seam tracking with scanner axes, the RLW-A system can create real-time tracking and path generation for a robotic laser welding cell. During the robot movement, the system measures the joint and controls the high dynamic scanner levels online (See the “Laser Welding Seam Tracking” page for more information on vision seam tracking). The seam tracking process is robust with a 100% detection rate, thus ensuring high productivity with excellent seam quality, dynamics and reproducibility along with cost-effective operation. This product uses the SCeye process monitoring to easy parameterization of seam tracking. The software interface that is shown in Figure 1 displays all process data for RLW-A remote laser welding.
ALO4: Laser welding and Brazing Tactile Seam Tracking [3]
This product uses the filler wire that is required for the seam during joining, it serves as a mechanical sensor in the tactile seam tracking system. The change in the location of the seam causes the wire sensor to move, which then guides the processing head precisely over the seam.
ALO4’s benefits include:
- Shortened start-up times, faster optics changeovers and more efficient service thanks to plug & play in the hardware and interface architecture.
- Easy handling thanks to the optional integration of external functions such as wire feeder, media control, QA systems and direct control of the laser source.
The configuration of the ALO4, as well as the advantages of all models of this product, are depicted in Video 2.
Quality Assurance with SCeye: Envelopes, Pore Detection and Beam-Wire-Position
As previously stated, ALO4 has SCeye process monitoring systems that enable it to detect weld defects using artificial intelligence. In this mode, the system processes the image captured by the SCeye Camera. The artificial intelligence approach of the image processing algorithm uses a trained model that can classify pore and spatters defects, then it can recognize weld defects from the image. This algorithm can detect defects in real time and there is no need for a secondary or post scanning process, thus saving both cycle time and capital costs. The SCeye hardware for data and video recording can be seen in Figure 2, which ensures the quality of the weld.
Conclusion
Process monitoring systems take less control time and save capital costs in automatic industries. In this case, Scansonic SCeye is a fantastic process monitoring system for laser products, which is an coaxially integrated camera that can record practical data such as laser optics parameters. Due to its easy-to-use web GUI, maintenance personnel can utilize an excellent user interface and diagnostic tool. The SCeye system is present in RLW-A and ALO4, which are both used for visual and tactile seam tracking, respectively. One of the best advantages of the SCeye system is the online detection of welding defects, so the quality of the weld is checked before the welding is completed and there is no need for post-welding processing. This process monitoring system is extremely valuable for laser welding or most laser applications in general, as it enables the production of high-quality products with shorter cycle times.
Works Cited
[1] “https://www.scansonic.de/en/products/sceye/,” Scansonic MI. [Online].
[2] “https://www.scansonic.de/en/products/rlw-a/,” Scansonic MI. [Online].
[3] “https://www.scansonic.de/en/products/alo4/,” Scansonic MI. [Online].