Prof. Yuming ZHANG

Schedule

July 9th,2016

Topic

Human-Robot Collaborative Welding

Abstract

To learn how skilled welders respond to the fluctuating weld pool surface, a human-robot collaborative system has been established. In this system, the welder operates a torch in a virtual welding site without actually striking the arc. The movement of the torch operated by the welder is measured and analyzed and sent to the robot. The robot follows the human welder operation to move the real welding torch to weld the real work-piece. The vision system installed on the robot measures the 3D weld pool surface and displays the measured weld pool at the virtual site such that the welder can observe the change in the weld pool to adjust his/her torch movement and current. The weld pool surface and torch/current adjustments as the input and output of the human response can thus been recorded to model the response.

Resume

• YuMing Zhang has been with the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA since 1991 where he is currently Professor and the James R. Boyd Professor in Electrical Engineering and directs the Welding Research Laboratory.
• He received his BS and MS degrees in control engineering major from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) where he finished his PhD degree in welding engineering major in 1990.
• His research in innovative welding processes and sensing and control of welding processes at the University of Kentucky has continuously been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and brought him over 170 peer-reviewed journal publications, 8 US patents, and recognitions including Donald Julius Groen Prize from The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, United Kingdom, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Congress Poster Paper Prize (2002), IFAC Congress Application Paper Finalist (2002), and numerous awards from the American Welding Society (AWS).
• Four of his PhD students received the Henry Granjon Prize (2015, 2013, 2012, 2009) from the International Institute of Welding (IIW).
• YuMing Zhang currently serves a Lead Principal Reviewer for Welding Journal (Editor for the Research Supplement) and an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes.
• He is also a Fellow of the AWS, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).