Control the output power of laser welding machine with image processing system

The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany has developed a laser welding control system for the physical measurement technology company, which can adjust the output power of the laser beam according to actual needs. This control system can analyze 14,000 images and adjust the laser output based on these images produced every second. The system uses a special camera in which a microprocessor can integrate each pixel. A total of 2500 processors are working simultaneously. In ordinary image processing systems, only a few microprocessors process images one by one.

When welding thin metal plates with laser, the laser beam passes over the thin plate, creating a solder joint of several tenths of a millimeter, creating a so-called penetration hole, which closes when the laser beam leaves. The laser power must be set accurately. If the power is too low, the laser beam cannot penetrate the entire section of the thin plate, and the welding effect is not good. But when the power is too high, the laser beam will cut the thin plate.

In order to achieve closed loop control, the camera is used to control the output of the laser beam. In order to achieve good monitoring of fast-moving penetrating holes, the frame rate must exceed 1kHz. Ordinary camera devices cannot achieve such a high frame rate, and only this device developed by the Fraunhofer Institute can meet this requirement