Trajectory Extrapolation for Manual Robot Remote Welding

Abstract

This article describes an algorithm for the online extrapolation of hand-motion during remote welding. The aim is to overcome the spatial limitations of the human welder’s arms in order to cover a larger workspace with a continuous weld seam and to substantially relieve the welder from strain and fatigue. Depending on the sampled hand-motion data, an extrapolation of the given motion patterns is achieved by decomposing the input signals in a linear direction and a periodic motion component. An approach to efficiently determine the periodicity using a sampled autocorrelation function and the subsequent application of parameter identification using a spline function are presented in this paper. The proposed approach is able to resemble all practically relevant motion patterns and has been validated successfully on a remote welding system with limited input space and audio-visual feedback by an experienced welder.