Measurement and Defect Detection of the Weld Bead Based on Online Vision Inspection

Weld bead inspection is important for high-quality welding. This paper summarizes our work on weld bead profile measurement, monitoring, and defect detection using a structured light-based vision inspection system. The configuration of the sensor is described and analyzed. In this configuration, the system presented in this paper can easily be calibrated. The image processing and extraction algorithms for laser profiles and feature points are presented. The dimensional parameters of the weld bead are measured, and the weld defects are detected during multilayer welding processes. Experiments using the vision inspection system were conducted with satisfactory results for online inspection.