Product Code: PIC06_201

Analysis and Digitalization of Expert’s Skills for Laser Welding Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)
Authors:
Naoki Seto, National Institute of AIST, Digital Manufacturing Research Center; Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan
Shingo Hirose, National Institute of AIST; Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan
Kazuo Mori, National Institute of AIST, Digital Manufacturing Research Center; Tsukuba, Ibaraki Japan
Presented at PICALO 2006

In laser welding, the operator set welding parameters based on his long experience and knowledge before the operation. Since the parameter setting effects on welding quality greatly, it is very important that expert's experience and knowledge is expected to be transfer to others in order to maintain the high quality laser operation. However, an expert's thinking process in laser welding is subjectively judged. Therefore, it is very hard to transfer expert's thinking process to others. In this presentation, at first, we start to study what is the element of expert's skill engaged in laser welding. Second, we investigate how to digitalize the expert's skill about the laser welding parameter setting. Finally, we show a new approach of a method for analyzing laser welding expert's skills using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) By adapting AHP to the analysis of laser welding expert's skills, we could obtain quantitatively the between laser parameters and welding defect, and could develop the system to transfer expert's skill to others.