"Welding automation often succeeds by reducing environmental variation or introducing sensing and feedback systems capable of handling that variation."
Potter identifies two complementary strategies in robotic arc welding - making workpieces and production environments more consistent, and equipping robots with sensors that detect and compensate for deviations. Manufacturers improved part tolerances, fixtures, and material handling while developing touch sensing, through-arc sensing, and laser-based seam tracking. This directly illustrates how automation must either constrain environmental variety or develop mechanisms to respond to it.
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