Laser welding apparatus and method with correction of a laser beam direction with respect to the programmed predetermined position

摘要

A laser welding system includes a robot control unit (52) that acquires movement amount measurement values from encoders provided on axes of the robot (1) and calculates the current position of a laser processing head (3) based on the measurement values. Based on the calculated current position of the laser processing head (3), the robot control unit (52) calculates a laser beam emission direction specifying the direction in which the laser beam should be aimed in order to strike a predetermined laser irradiation position. The robot control unit (52) sends a command indicative of the laser beam emission direction to a processing head control unit (53) which changes the direction of a reflecting mirror provided inside the laser processing head (3) such that the laser beam is emitted in the specified direction.