9414530 Kovacevic The award is for developing a sensing technique to measure the three-dimensional shape of weld pools in gas tungsten arc welding. Image processing and vision algorithms will also be developed to process the acquired image and compute the shape of the weld pool surface based on iterative techniques, regression methods, and neural networks. Structured light from a short-duration pulsed laser and transmitted through a grid is used to illuminate the weld pool. The reflected light contains information about the pool shape. Extraction of this information is the function of the image processing algorithms. The feasibility of the method has been demonstrated, development of techniques for real-time image extraction and pool surface computation being the objective of the current effort. Welding processes are widely used. On-line measurement of three-dimensional weld pool shape and its subsequent correlation with weld quality would ensure more consistent welds in a wide variety of applications.
