Improving automatic robotic welding in shipbuilding through the introduction of a corner-finding algorithm to help recognise shipbuilding parts

A system that uses a combination of techniques to suggest weld requirements for ships’ parts is proposed. These suggestions are evaluated, decisions are made and then weld parameters are sent to a program generator. New image capture methods are being combined with a decision-making system that uses multiple parallel artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. A pattern recognition system recognises shipbuilding parts using shape contour information. Fourier descriptors provide information and neural networks make decisions about shapes. The system has distinguished between various parts, and programs have been generated to validate the approaches used. The system has recently been improved by pre-processing using a simple and accurate corner finder in an edge-detected image.