A Sensor Based Monitoring System for Real-Time Quality Control: Semi-Automatic Arc Welding Case Study
Reza Hamzeh, Luke Thomas, Jan Polzer, Xun Xu, Holger Heinzel
Abstract
Welding is one of the mostly used joining techniques for metal parts in the manufacturing industry. The quality of a weld is critical since it influences the lifetime of the product or people’s safety. Therefore, manufacturers are looking for reliable and cost-effective methods to monitor and control welding quality in real-time. In this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate data acquisition, integration, and visualization using heterogeneous sensor data. A semi-automatic welding system is then developed using a linear track and a Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) power source. The system includes voltage, current and temperature sensors, a rotary encoder, CCD camera, and signal processing hardware and software. Welding signatures were captured using a data acquisition (DAQ) module and software was developed to store and visualize the captured data. The developed system can be used as a testbed for experimental applications or as a quality control system for the arc welding process in manufacturing shop floors.