Mirror-based laser-processing system with visual tracking and position control of a moving laser spot

摘要

A mirror-based laser processing system, e.g., for laser welding, provided with manual control of movements of a laser welding spot W on an object O being treated. The system includes a laser source (10) which generates a laser beam capable of treating the object (O), a mirror-based micromanipulator (14) which consists of a concave mirror (18) and a convex mirror (16) facing each other, and a laser beam splitter (20) which is located on the path of the laser beam reflected from the concave mirror (18). The laser beam splitter (20) has a coating which reflects the laser beam onto the object (O), but is capable of passing visible and infrared light. Movements of the laser-beam splitter are manually controlled from an external terminal, which is made in the form of a joy stick (50). The joy stick is capable of moving the laser welding spot (W) in any direction over the object's surface in the X-Y coordinate system. Adjustment in the Z-axis direction is performed through a zoom system of the mirror-based micromanipulator (14). The infrared light which is generated by the heated area of the object passes through the laser-beam splitter which transmits visible light to the microscopic head for observation of the object and reflects the infrared light. The latter is processed by a processing unit (38) and is converted into visible thermal information presented on a display (46) in the form convenient for manual control of the position of the welding spot W.