Control of a Robotic UV Curing Process With Thermal Vision Feedback Through Two IR Cameras

Abstract

Robotic ultra-violet (UV) curing is considered to be one of the effective ways to replace the current convection-based methods in various manufacturing processes due to its fast curing rate and high energy efficiency. This paper presents a closed-loop control of a robotic UV curing system by using thermal vision feedback through two infrared (IR) cameras. The proposed approach is developed based on a mathematical analysis of the fundamental UV curing process and the integration of the local and global IR cameras in a cascade manner. A computer simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed strategy by regarding two control variables: the radiant intensity of the UV heater and the sweeping speed of the robot end effector. The results indicate that controllers using either control variable can compensate for interferences and improve curing quality under this thermal-vision-based architecture.