Machine Vision, Calibration & Weld Path Correction Adding a camera to a laser welding system sounds like it should solve a basic problem: Find the joint, tell the scanner where it is, and put the weld there. And in principle, that’s exactly what machine vision can do. Researchers have demonstrated camera systems that look through … Read more
What questions should we answer before writing a precision motion specification? One thing I’ve learned from working with precision motion and machine automation is that it’s easy to start specifying hardware before we fully understand what the machine needs to do. We start discussing accuracy, repeatability, resolution, velocity, acceleration, and controller performance. These are all … Read more
Facts, tradeoffs, and a few questions worth asking before choosing a machine Fiber Core Size in Handheld Laser Welding: Smaller Is Powerful — But It Isn’t the Whole Story A few months ago, when I first started taking a serious look at handheld laser welding, I was talking with a former colleague about the technology. … Read more
Handheld laser welding is becoming more than a standalone welding tool. As LightWELD moves into regular production and robotic cells, MWL is developing a customizable interface to connect the part, the operator instructions, the approved laser settings, and the production record. LightWELD Is Becoming a Production Tool I come from a background of building automated … Read more
What CNC machines—and an established part of the automation industry I should have paid more attention to—taught me about building more flexible machines I have spent much of my career programming machines. Some have been conventional PLC-controlled machines built around sequential operations. Others have been CNC-style systems where the machine programming and the part programming … Read more
Automation Notes What If We Standardized the Control System Before Building the Next Laser Machine? The machine should be custom. The control foundation does not always have to be. One thing that has bothered me for years in custom machine building is how often we solve the same control problems over and over again. A … Read more
One subsystem that has caused me more commissioning trouble than people might expect is the cutting gas system.One lesson I learned building laser cutting machines is that saying:“I need 300 psi nitrogen.”doesn’t really define the requirement.What you actually need to know is:“I need this pressure while flowing this much gas.”Laser cutting—especially high-pressure nitrogen cutting—can require … Read more
Why higher programmed speed does not always mean more good parts per hour By William Kane | Manufacturing with Light (MWL) Eventually, almost every successful production machine gets the same request: “We need more parts per hour.” With a laser cutting machine, the first reaction is often obvious: increase the feed rate. If the process … Read more
A colleague once used a made-up story to explain a problem that will probably sound familiar to anyone who has worked around automated laser equipment. A new laser system had been installed, tested, and accepted. The system produced good parts during the factory acceptance test. It repeated those results after installation at the customer’s facility. … Read more
