Localization of 'Laser Vision Sensors,' a Core Component for Welding Automation
Prices at one-fifth the level of foreign products expected to spread to industries such as shipbuilding
On the 13th, a research team led by Moon Hyung-soon, head of the Precision Machining Control Group at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, developed a laser vision sensor, a core component that can be called the "eyes" of welding automation equipment.

Since welding accounts for approximately 35% of shipbuilding costs, welding technology is directly linked to the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry. To enhance technological competitiveness and replace the shortage of skilled labor, the industry is expanding the adoption of welding automation equipment capable of maintaining consistent welding quality across various working environments.

A vision sensor is a non-contact sensor that uses a laser to locate weld lines on components or structures and automatically tracks movement to accurately determine the position of the welding torch in real time.

Welding automation equipment sensors are broadly classified into contact and non-contact types. However, due to the issue of reduced durability in contact sensors, advanced manufacturing nations such as Europe and Japan primarily adopt non-contact sensors. Nevertheless, as there are no commercially available domestic vision sensors in Korea yet, contact sensors have been used, or foreign vision sensors costing between 40 million and 100 million won per unit have been imported. Representative examples include the vision sensors from the UK's Meta Vision System and Canada's Cervo Robotics.

However, due to the lack of smooth technology transfer and after-sales service from overseas manufacturers for foreign vision sensors, domestic companies were unable to properly handle situations where sensors malfunctioned or settings needed to be changed due to process variations, resulting in few successful operational cases.

Last year, the research team received a request from Best FA, a company specializing in welding automation machinery, to develop a vision sensor that domestic small and medium-sized enterprises could easily utilize. They commenced research and developed a sensor module capable of immediate commercialization within one year. In particular, they significantly lowered the module price to approximately 10 to 15 million won, which is one-fifth the price of foreign products. They also expanded the range of products available to customers by adding an entry-level model priced between 3 to 5 million won that excludes welding monitoring functions from the module. In addition, we have developed our own image processing algorithm that can track the centerline of the weld with a clean 3D image without noise, enabling high-speed welding at a speed of 1m per minute with a tracking error of up to 0.1mm.

The developed technology has been fully transferred to Best FA, a client company, and is expected to be widely utilized in manufacturing sectors requiring welding, such as shipbuilding, automobiles, oil refining, construction, and wind power generation, through commercialization.
Group Leader Moon Hyung-soon stated, “Welding is widely used in any industry, and automation is crucial as work speed and accuracy are directly linked to productivity,” adding, “I hope that welding automation equipment equipped with vision sensors will be widely distributed to small and medium-sized workplaces to contribute to productivity improvement and, furthermore, help the shipbuilding and marine industry currently facing a downturn.”

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the global welding automation market is expected to grow from $1.77 billion as of 2016 to approximately $2.51 billion in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 7.2%.