Embedded System for Wireless Signals Monitoring During Arc Welding with Technological Approach

Industrially, arc welding process is the most important in equipment production and repair, and being a special manufacturing process, which cannot be completely inspected for flaws only after its completion, production monitoring is necessary. Technologically required by ISO 3834:2005 and ISO 17662:2005, which say that the manufacturer must take measures to guarantee necessary quality, monitoring can be used to ensure process documentation and corrective actions, and specify data to be monitored and equipment and measurement systems correct calibration. There are monitoring systems that perform satisfactorily, but the use of cable communication and/or dedicated computer restrict their industrial applications. Then, an independent embedded system, capable of monitoring different welding process signals and that communicates in a robust and flexible way to different devices is crucial for the industry, with a user-friendly system, using the state-of-the-art in communication technology. Because of this need, was then designed and built a system for wireless arc welding signals monitoring, called Moso WiFi. Three acquisition channels are available (voltage, current and wire feed speed), and validated by instrumentation in TIG and MIG/MAG welding (short circuit, spray and pulsed), demonstrating wide applicability and robustness at a hardware cost of approximately U.S. $ 550.00.