As long as parts fit perfectly together, gas cap and wire searching (Quick-Touch) are sufficient to measure deviations in the position of the weld seam so that the robot can automatically adjust it in the welding program. However, with V-, I- and raised welds, irregular pre-openings and deformations due to shrinkage or heat input, it becomes a lot more difficult and sometimes even impossible to weld these welds with the welding robot. Use of the welding robot in such cases is still no match for the speed and flexibility of an experienced manual welder. The ARC-EYE Adaptive plug-in that Valk Welding developed for its ARC-EYE CSS welding seam tracking system now changes this.

ARC-EYE CSS is a laser sensor system, mounted on the robotic welding torch that registers deviations in the position of the weld seam during welding and corrects them in real time. This eliminates the need for manual program corrections and increases process speed. With the ARC-EYE Adaptive plug-in, the ARC-EYE CSS can now also be used to correct welds with larger tolerances in real time. Therefore, workpieces that could previously only be welded manually can now be welded on the robot thanks to this development.