A battery module laser welding method and system based on vision guidance

Abstract

The present invention provides a battery module laser welding method and system based on vision guidance in the field of battery module production technology. The method includes: step S1, PLC controls a transfer cart to move the module to a side panel welding station; step S2, lifts the module, removes dust, and activates nitrogen protection; step S3, visually locates and measures the distance of the side panels in the module using a camera and a rangefinder, and then controls a six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to weld the side panels; step S4, visually locates and measures the distance of the poles, then transfers the connecting piece to the poles and moves the transfer cart to the connecting piece welding station; step S5, lifts the module, removes dust, and activates nitrogen protection; step S6, visually locates and measures the distance of the battery module, then controls a six-axis robot to move the galvanometer to weld the connecting piece. The advantages of the present invention are: greatly improving the quality, efficiency, and safety of battery module laser welding, and greatly reducing the cost of laser welding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of battery module production, and in particular to a battery module laser welding method and system based on vision guidance. Background Art

[0002] With the increasing depletion of traditional energy and the many problems exposed in its production and use, the development of new energy has become a general consensus. Among them, battery modules, as an important component of new energy vehicles, are also in increasing demand.

[0003] The battery module is assembled from several battery cells, connecting plates and side panels. During the assembly process of the battery module, the connecting plates and side panels need to be laser welded. However, the traditional manual welding method has the following disadvantages: manual welding is inefficient, welding quality cannot be guaranteed, labor costs are high, and there are safety hazards for welders.

[0004] Therefore, how to provide a battery module laser welding method and system based on vision guidance to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of battery module laser welding and reduce the cost of laser welding has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a battery module laser welding method and system based on vision guidance, so as to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of battery module laser welding and reduce the cost of laser welding.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance, comprising the following steps:

[0007] Step S10: After the PLC obtains the module information of the battery module, it controls the transfer vehicle to move the battery module to the side panel welding station;

[0008] Step S20: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first lifting mechanism, the first dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection;

[0009] Step S30: After the PLC uses the camera and rangefinder to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panels in the battery module, it controls the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels and generate a side panel welding record.

[0010] Step S40: After the side panel welding is completed, the PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The transfer trolley is lowered by the first lifting mechanism, the connecting piece is manually transferred to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station.

[0011] Step S50: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second lifting mechanism, the second dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection;

[0012] Step S60: After the PLC visually locates and measures the distance of the battery module using a camera and a rangefinder, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece and generate a connecting piece welding record;

[0013] Step S70: The PLC generates a welding report based on the module information, the side panel welding record, and the connecting piece welding record, and sends the welding report to the host computer.

[0014] Furthermore, the step S10 is specifically as follows:

[0015] After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

[0016] Furthermore, in step S10, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

[0017] Furthermore, in step S30, the visual positioning by the camera is specifically:

[0018] First, the camera is calibrated at nine points, and then the image taken by the camera is preprocessed for image enhancement. After rough positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, the side panel is fitted with a circle using a circle finding tool to obtain the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard part of the side panel is used to give a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on the coordinate compensation value.

[0019] Furthermore, the step S70 is specifically as follows:

[0020] The PLC generates a welding report including the welding time based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer in real time for archiving.

[0021] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance, comprising the following modules:

[0022] The first transfer module is used to control the transfer vehicle to transfer the battery module to the side panel welding station after the PLC obtains the module information of the battery module;

[0023] The first module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the first dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first jacking mechanism;

[0024] The side panel welding module is used by the PLC to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panels in the battery module using a camera and a rangefinder, and then control the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels and generate side panel welding records;

[0025] The second transfer module is used after the side panel welding is completed. The PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The first lifting mechanism lowers the transfer cart, manually transfers the connecting piece to the pole, and moves the transfer cart to the connecting piece welding station.

[0026] The second module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the second dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second jacking mechanism;

[0027] The connecting piece welding module is used for the PLC to visually locate and measure the distance of the battery module through a camera and a rangefinder, and then control the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece and generate a connecting piece welding record;

[0028] The welding report generation module is used for the PLC to generate a welding report based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, and send the welding report to the host computer.

[0029] Furthermore, the first transplanting module is specifically used to:

[0030] After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

[0031] Furthermore, in the first transplanting module, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

[0032] Furthermore, in the side panel welding module, the visual positioning by the camera is specifically as follows:

[0033] First, the camera is calibrated at nine points, and then the image taken by the camera is preprocessed for image enhancement. After rough positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, the side panel is fitted with a circle using a circle finding tool to obtain the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard part of the side panel is used to give a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on the coordinate compensation value.

[0034] Furthermore, the welding report generation module is specifically used to:

[0035] The PLC generates a welding report including the welding time based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer in real time for archiving.

[0036] The advantages of the present invention are:

[0037] 1. After obtaining the module information of the battery module through the PLC, the transfer trolley is controlled to move the battery module to the side panel welding station. After lifting the transfer trolley, the battery module is dusted by the first dust removal mechanism and nitrogen protection is turned on. After the PLC uses the camera and rangefinder to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panel in the battery module, it controls the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panel and generate a side panel welding record. After the side panel welding is completed, the pole is visually located and measured, and the six-axis robot is controlled to move the connecting piece to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station. The PLC then visually locates and measures the distance of the pole. The six-axis robot is controlled to move the connecting piece to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station. After the connecting piece executes the same process as the side panel, the six-axis robot is controlled to move the galvanometer to automatically weld the connecting piece, generate a connecting piece welding record, and generate a welding report based on the module information, side panel welding record and connecting piece welding record and send it to the host computer. That is, the PLC uses the camera to visually guide the welding of the side panel and the connecting piece, and combines the distance measurement of the rangefinder to automatically weld the side panel and the connecting piece of the battery module. This not only solves manpower, but also avoids errors and safety hazards caused by manual welding, and ultimately greatly improves the quality, efficiency and safety of battery module laser welding, and greatly reduces the cost of laser welding.

[0038] 2. By performing visual positioning and ranging before each welding, the welding accuracy is avoided to avoid the position deviation of the battery module during the transportation process. Combined with dust removal and nitrogen protection, the quality of battery module laser welding is greatly improved.

[0039] 3. Generate a welding report with welding time through module information, side panel welding records and connecting piece welding records. Use the key to encrypt the welding report and send it to the host computer for archiving in real time to prevent the welding report from being stolen in plain text, thus ensuring the security of welding report transmission. Archiving the welding report with welding time facilitates traceability in the future. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The technical solution in the embodiments of the present application has the following overall idea: the battery module is moved to the side panel welding station and the connecting piece welding station in sequence by controlling the transfer trolley through PLC, and the side panels and connecting pieces in the battery module are visually positioned and measured by the camera and rangefinder. Then, the six-axis robot is controlled to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels, and the six-axis robot is controlled to move the galvanometer to automatically weld the connecting pieces. That is, the PLC automatically welds the side panels and connecting pieces of the battery module through visual guidance, so as to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of the laser welding of the battery module and reduce the cost of laser welding.

[0044] Please refer to Figures 1 to 2 As shown, a preferred embodiment of a battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0045] Step S10: After obtaining the module information of the battery module, the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) controls the transfer vehicle to move the battery module to the side panel welding station;

[0046] Step S20: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first lifting mechanism, the first dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection;

[0047] Step S30: After the PLC visually locates and measures the distance of the side panels in the battery module using a camera and a rangefinder, it controls the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels and generate a side panel welding record; the camera is a CCD camera; the rangefinder is a laser rangefinder;

[0048] Step S40: After the side panel welding is completed, the PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The transfer trolley is lowered by the first lifting mechanism, and the connecting piece is manually transferred to the pole. The transfer trolley is then moved to the connecting piece welding station and positioned by the positioning mechanism of the connecting piece connection station until the position sensor detects that the trolley has been moved into position.

[0049] Step S50: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second lifting mechanism, the second dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection;

[0050] In step S60, after the PLC visually locates and measures the distance of the battery module using the camera and rangefinder, it controls the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece, generates a connecting piece welding record, and lowers the transfer trolley via the second jacking mechanism after welding is completed, and releases the transfer trolley. In specific implementation, the PLC performs subsequent welding operations only after receiving the welding instruction sent by the host computer.

[0051] Step S70: The PLC generates a welding report based on the module information, the side panel welding record, and the connecting piece welding record, and sends the welding report to the host computer.

[0052] The step S10 is specifically as follows:

[0053] After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

[0054] In step S10, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

[0055] In step S30, the visual positioning by the camera is specifically performed as follows:

[0056] First, the camera undergoes nine-point calibration, then the captured image undergoes image enhancement preprocessing. After coarse positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, a circle is fitted to the side panel using the circle finder to determine the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard side panel component is used to provide a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on this coordinate compensation value. Pre-set mark points can also be used when performing visual positioning using the camera.

[0057] The step S70 is specifically as follows:

[0058] Based on the module information, side panel welding records and connecting piece welding records, the PLC generates a welding report containing the welding time, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer for archiving in real time. The key encryption can ensure the security of the welding report transmission, and generates a welding report containing the welding time and archives it to the host computer for later traceability.

[0059] A preferred embodiment of a battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance of the present invention includes the following modules:

[0060] The first transfer module is used for the PLC (programmable logic controller) to obtain the module information of the battery module and control the transfer vehicle to transfer the battery module to the side panel welding station;

[0061] The first module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the first dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first jacking mechanism;

[0062] The side panel welding module is used to control the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels after the PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panels in the battery module, thereby generating side panel welding records. The camera is a CCD camera, and the rangefinder is a laser rangefinder.

[0063] The second transfer module is used after the side panel welding is completed. The PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The transfer trolley is lowered by the first lifting mechanism, and the connecting piece is manually transferred to the pole. The transfer trolley is then moved to the connecting piece welding station and positioned by the positioning mechanism of the connecting piece connection station until the position sensor detects that the trolley has been moved into place.

[0064] The second module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the second dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second jacking mechanism;

[0065] The connecting piece welding module is used for the PLC to visually locate and measure the distance of the battery module through a camera and a rangefinder, and then control the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece, generate a connecting piece welding record, and lower the transfer trolley through the second jacking mechanism after welding is completed, and release the transfer trolley. In specific implementation, the PLC will only perform subsequent welding operations after receiving the welding instruction sent by the host computer;

[0066] The welding report generation module is used for the PLC to generate a welding report based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, and send the welding report to the host computer.

[0067] The first transplanting module is specifically used for:

[0068] After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

[0069] In the first transplanting module, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

[0070] In the side panel welding module, the visual positioning by camera is specifically as follows:

[0071] First, the camera undergoes nine-point calibration, then the captured image undergoes image enhancement preprocessing. After coarse positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, a circle is fitted to the side panel using the circle finder to determine the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard side panel component is used to provide a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on this coordinate compensation value. Pre-set mark points can also be used when performing visual positioning using the camera.

[0072] The welding report generation module is specifically used for:

[0073] Based on the module information, side panel welding records and connecting piece welding records, the PLC generates a welding report containing the welding time, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer for archiving in real time. The key encryption can ensure the security of the welding report transmission, and generates a welding report containing the welding time and archives it to the host computer for later traceability.

[0074] In summary, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0075] 1. After obtaining the module information of the battery module through the PLC, the transfer trolley is controlled to move the battery module to the side panel welding station. After lifting the transfer trolley, the battery module is dusted by the first dust removal mechanism and nitrogen protection is turned on. After the PLC uses the camera and rangefinder to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panel in the battery module, it controls the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panel and generate a side panel welding record. After the side panel welding is completed, the pole is visually located and measured, and the six-axis robot is controlled to move the connecting piece to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station. The PLC then visually locates and measures the distance of the pole. The six-axis robot is controlled to move the connecting piece to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station. After the connecting piece executes the same process as the side panel, the six-axis robot is controlled to move the galvanometer to automatically weld the connecting piece, generate a connecting piece welding record, and generate a welding report based on the module information, side panel welding record and connecting piece welding record and send it to the host computer. That is, the PLC uses the camera to visually guide the welding of the side panel and the connecting piece, and combines the distance measurement of the rangefinder to automatically weld the side panel and the connecting piece of the battery module. This not only solves manpower, but also avoids errors and safety hazards caused by manual welding, and ultimately greatly improves the quality, efficiency and safety of battery module laser welding, and greatly reduces the cost of laser welding.

[0076] 2. By performing visual positioning and ranging before each welding, the welding accuracy is avoided to avoid the position deviation of the battery module during the transportation process. Combined with dust removal and nitrogen protection, the quality of battery module laser welding is greatly improved.

[0077] 3. Generate a welding report with welding time through module information, side panel welding records and connecting piece welding records. Use the key to encrypt the welding report and send it to the host computer for archiving in real time to prevent the welding report from being stolen in plain text, thus ensuring the security of welding report transmission. Archiving the welding report with welding time facilitates traceability in the future.

[0078] Although the specific embodiments of the present invention are described above, those skilled in the art should understand that the specific embodiments described are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Equivalent modifications and changes made by those skilled in the art in accordance with the spirit of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance, characterized by: The steps include: Step S10: After the PLC obtains the module information of the battery module, it controls the transfer vehicle to move the battery module to the side panel welding station; Step S20: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first lifting mechanism, the first dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection; Step S30: After the PLC uses the camera and rangefinder to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panels in the battery module, it controls the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels and generate a side panel welding record. Step S40: After the side panel welding is completed, the PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The transfer trolley is lowered by the first lifting mechanism, the connecting piece is manually transferred to the pole, and the transfer trolley is moved to the connecting piece welding station. Step S50: After the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second lifting mechanism, the second dust removal mechanism removes dust from the battery module and turns on nitrogen protection; Step S60: After the PLC visually locates and measures the distance of the battery module using a camera and a rangefinder, the PLC controls the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece and generate a connecting piece welding record; Step S70: The PLC generates a welding report based on the module information, the side panel welding record, and the connecting piece welding record, and sends the welding report to the host computer.

2. The battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step S10 is specifically as follows: After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

3. The battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S10, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

4. The battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S30, the visual positioning by the camera is specifically performed as follows: First, the camera is calibrated at nine points, and then the image taken by the camera is preprocessed for image enhancement. After rough positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, the side panel is fitted with a circle using a circle finding tool to obtain the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard part of the side panel is used to give a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on the coordinate compensation value.

5. The battery module laser welding method based on vision guidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step S70 is specifically as follows: The PLC generates a welding report including the welding time based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer in real time for archiving.

6. A battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance, characterized by: Includes the following modules: The first transfer module is used to control the transfer vehicle to transfer the battery module to the side panel welding station after the PLC obtains the module information of the battery module; The first module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the first dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the first jacking mechanism; The side panel welding module is used by the PLC to visually locate and measure the distance of the side panels in the battery module using a camera and a rangefinder, and then control the six-axis robot to move the welding nozzle to automatically weld the side panels and generate side panel welding records; The second transfer module is used after the side panel welding is completed. The PLC uses a camera and a rangefinder to visually locate and measure the poles in the battery module to obtain pole positioning data. The first lifting mechanism lowers the transfer cart, manually transfers the connecting piece to the pole, and moves the transfer cart to the connecting piece welding station. The second module jacking and dust removal module is used to remove dust from the battery module through the second dust removal mechanism and start nitrogen protection after the PLC lifts the transfer trolley through the second jacking mechanism; The connecting piece welding module is used for the PLC to visually locate and measure the distance of the battery module through a camera and a rangefinder, and then control the six-axis robot to move the galvanometer based on the pole positioning data to automatically weld the connecting piece and generate a connecting piece welding record; The welding report generation module is used for the PLC to generate a welding report based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, and send the welding report to the host computer.

7. The battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance according to claim 6, characterized in that: The first transplanting module is specifically used for: After the PLC scans the battery module on the transfer cart with a barcode scanner to obtain the module information, it controls the transfer cart to move the battery module to the side panel welding station and positions it through the positioning mechanism of the side panel welding station until the in-position sensor detects that the module has been moved into position.

8. The battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance according to claim 6, characterized in that: In the first transplanting module, the module information at least includes a module number, a module model, and a module size.

9. The battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance according to claim 6, characterized in that: In the side panel welding module, the visual positioning by camera is specifically as follows: First, the camera is calibrated at nine points, and then the image taken by the camera is preprocessed for image enhancement. After rough positioning through feature matching and affine transformation, the side panel is fitted with a circle using a circle finding tool to obtain the first center coordinate. The second center coordinate of the standard part of the side panel is used to give a coordinate compensation value, and visual positioning is performed based on the coordinate compensation value.

10. The battery module laser welding system based on vision guidance according to claim 6, characterized in that: The welding report generation module is specifically used for: The PLC generates a welding report including the welding time based on the module information, the side plate welding record and the connecting piece welding record, encrypts the welding report using a preset key and sends it to the host computer in real time for archiving.

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