LIBRARY ı6ıul 0) - Cranfield University

9. Conclusions and Recommendations for Further Work
9.1 Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from this research work.
1. Using only through-the-arc sensing, an integrated stand-off and voltage controller
has been implemented
for gas metal arc welding of thin sheet steel.
2. A novel rule based metal transfer and welding voltage control technique has been
developed and successfully implemented in a robotic gas metal arc welding cell.
3. A novel through-the-arc dip resistance monitoring technique for stand-off
estimation has been devised for use in dip and spray modes of metal transfer.
4. A position control strategy was implemented to demonstrate the feasibility of using
a robot independent part positioner for adjusting the weld joint location, without
changing the programmed robot path.
5. An architecture for integrating component design, off-line programming, welding
procedure generation and adaptive control has been proposed.
6. Robot and cell calibration are important issues when using off-line programming.
7. The possible sources of error in off-line programmed robotic welding were
identified and corrective measures proposed.
8. Component geometrical data available in CAD drawings can be used to generate
the co-ordinates of the points defining a robot path for welding.
9. A simple wire touch sensor has been developed for use in a laboratory controlled
environment for pre-weld joint location.
9.2 Recommendations for further work
This project has demonstrated the possibility of developing a flexible off-line
programming and control system for robotic gas metal arc welding of thin sheet. The
following further work is suggested.
9.2.1 Development of welding models to deal with other types of joints
In order to make the welding procedure generator more flexible and expand its
application scope, welding models describing the relationship between the input
variables (set-up welding parameters) and the geometrical characteristics of other
199