A Low-Cost Vision System Using a Retrofitted Robot for Locating Parts for Welding Process

The use of automation has dramatically increased in various industries and domains including our daily lives. The manufacturing industry is no exception, as it continuously seeks to produce high-quality products at scale. A system devoid of a vision system can be considered a relatively blind tool that cannot cope with the uncertainty of handling components of different geometries that are in different positions. The growing use of vision systems is helping several application areas and contributing significantly in various stages of the production cycle and making the process more efficient and confident. This study aims to evaluate, through techniques of pattern recognition statistics, the use of a low-cost vision system that allows the accurate recognition of the target position without the aid of additional devices. We use metal parts that have the same thickness. These parts are measured using digital static pictures and are compared with the measurements performed using appropriately calibrated metrology tools. The experimental results validate the application of the proposed system in a real-world welding process.