Autonomous navigation with collision avoidance and position adjustment for a robotic welding system

The construction industry has been experiencing a severe welder shortage in the US. Therefore, the development of welding robotics that can move around the job site and perform welding is in critical need. Moreover, welding robotics removes health-related issues associated with harmful fumes, elevated temperatures, and strenuous physical labor. It will also reduce the risk of injuries. An autonomous robot operating on a construction site must be able to detect obstacles, navigate to welding material, and then perform welding on the desired material. This paper focuses on developing an integrated unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) system with an automated robotic welding system to provide mobility for the construction site. The autonomous system maps and navigates with collision avoidance using a 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor. When the robot has reached the desired position where the target welding material is located, the robotic welding system automatically performs the welding process using visual sensors. A hardware and software integration between the UGV and the robotic welding system is also proposed. The results demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method.