AWMS SYSTEM

AWMS SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

The Automated Welding Manufacturing System (AWMS) is a research and development testbed for automated gas metal arc welding technology. Its activities are aimed at developing and validating standards that will contribute to increased use of automated welding technology by manufacturers. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) plans to work with technology suppliers and manufacturing users to test systems in the AWMS. Our experiments and control system designs will test the feasibility of interface standards and intelligent control technology to increase productivity, improve quality, and reduce the cost of system integration. Further, we will explore integration techniques that make multi-vendor system solutions more effective and easier to build, program, and operate. [2]

Keywords

Data acquisition, gas metal arc welding, open architecture, robotic arc welding, standards, welding automation, welding sensors.

A major NIST mission is to promote economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards. The Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) is part of NIST’s Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory.ISD’s goals are to foster the development and implementation of advanced manufacturing systems, processes, and equipment and to anticipate and address the needs of U.S. industry for the next generation of measurements and standards.

ISD began an effort to investigate technology in automated arc welding in 1995. ISD worked with NIST’s Materials Reliability Division (MRD), a group that has experience in welding process research, to determine the initial approach of the project. The focus of the project is the Automated Welding Manufacturing System (AWMS), a testbed for automated welding research. This document describes the current testbed hardware and the initial design for the control system and off-line planning systems. The testbed, shown in Figure 1, includes a robot, arc welding power source, gun and wire feed, control computers and sensors, and robot simulation software. We emphasize modular software and hardware design to investigate opportunities for standards and to allow insertion of components and algorithms developed by others. [2]

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