Industrial electronics: Robots, vision systems, smart sensors, adaptive controls, and an automation protocol accelerate integrated manufacturing

At the General Electric Co.'s aircraft-engine plant in Evendale, Ohio, a developmental “seeing” robot-welder joins the curved edges of two steel plates, continuously adjusting the track of the torch, the amount of electric-arc current, and the welding-wire feed rate to ensure a high-quality, even seam. The device welds 1.5- or 3-millimeter-thick plates at rates up to 15 centimeters per minute, or twice the average speed of a human welder.