A method and
system for automatically filing the
narrow gap between facing end walls of adjacent first and second railway rails by depositing vertically spaced
layers of
molten metal in the gap with an
electric arc welding torch using a robotic mechanism that moves the
torch in a pattern controlled by a low level robotic execute program from a spatial position to a next spatial position, said method and
system comprising: constructing a data array for a specific gap, said array constituting a series of positions making up an idealized progression of said
torch to fill said gaps in vertically spaced
layers made up of multiple positions, each of said fixed positions identified by at least four coordinates, including (1) at least x, y and z, (2) the layer in which said position is a part and (3) the
welding parameters to be executed while said torch moves toward the next position; outputting data relating to a specific position from said data array;
processing said
welding parameters associated with said outputted data using said robotic execute program; then, outputting the new fixed data relating to the next position in said series of points;
processing said welding parameters associated with said new data using said robotic execute program; and, repeating said outputting and
processing acts until said positions in said data array relating to a specific layer have been processed. Thereafter the method or
system repeats the layer or processes the next layer comprising multiple stored positions.