Path Planning for Welding Robot based on Ant colony Optimization Algorithm

Since welding robots have to traverse a large number of welding points during welding operations, the length of the welding path directly affects the working time and production efficiency of the automatic line. In respect to the problem that traditional path planning methods are not suitable for multi-target points, a path planning method based on ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is proposed. Firstly, the robot's working environment is simulated with the grid method, then the ACO algorithm model is established, and finally an optimal welding path is obtained through algorithm convergence. Taking the shortest welding path as the planning goal, the simulation experiment is carried out in MATLAB software. The results show that the method obtains the optimal path planning effect under the condition of a small number of iterations, and verifies the feasibility of applying the ACO algorithm to the path planning for welding robots.