Hardware based analysis and process control for laser brazing applications

Laser brazing is widely used for joining metal sheets in industrial applications, in particular in the automotive sector, where the requirements on surface quality are extremely high. Therefore, quality control and process observation cannot be omitted. This paper presents the current works of a camera based process control system. Hardware-based algorithms for estimation of machine parameters during the process are implemented on FPGA technology. In particular the process velocity is measured in real time which makes the system suitable for controlling tasks to react instantaneously on changes of the velocity.First experimental results on a controlled laser brazing process are presented. Additionally an evaluation of the accuracy of the hardware-based velocity measurement is given.