Cartesian coordinate arc welding robot

ABSTRACTToday, most of the manufacturers for all scales choose more economic, precise and durablesystems. If we consider welding process we'll see that, besides having the features mentionedabove, robotic welding systems can come up with more standart and faster results thanmanual arc welding.In this project a computer controlled cartesian coordinate arc welding robot is designed andbuilt. Cartesian robot?s, which has 3 axes, main frame is built from aluminum profiles. Foradjusting the angle of the welding torch and the distance between the workpiece and weldingtorch, a torch holder is designed. There are 2 stepper motors used which move welding torchalong X and Y axises. For controlling the robot via pc, a special computer programme writtenin Visual Basic is used. This programme sends signals through the parallel port of the pc tothe control card which controls stepper motor drivers and welding torch triggering circuit.This signal flow makes welding available in desired parameters.Test samples and results have shown that the cartesian coordinate arc welding robot can weldmore accurate than a manual arc welder does, in known optimum welding speeds. Possiblefuture improvements of the arc welding robot are also mentioned in the project.Keywords: MIG/MAG welding robot, cartesian coordinate arc welding robot, robot welding,cartesian robot with stepper motors.