META VISION SYSTEMS

META to launch new robot welding sensor at Fabtech

Meta Vision Systems (Oxford UK and Montreal Canada) announces the launch of a new laser sensor at the forthcoming Fabtech show in Atlanta, Georgia, to be held from 11th to 13th November 2014.

SLS Arc

Tube & Pipe

Meta is widely acknowledged as the market leader in the supply of laser vision systems for the Tube & Pipe industry. We have a huge range of solutions that are carefully matched to the specific requirements of particular Tube & Pipe industry applications.

We are active across a wide range of the Tube & Pipe industry, including:

Spiral pipe mills
Longitudinal pipe mills
ERW tube & pipe mills
TIG tube mills
Laser tube mills
Pipe Joining
Pipe cladding

Tank Manufacture

Manufacturing tanks of all kinds is one of the most common applications of laser seam tracking. Whether it is for small or large tanks, or whether the tanks are for holding air, water, fuel or even cryogenic materials, Meta has plenty of experience in tank manufacture. Common approaches to welding tanks include mounting large tanks on turning rolls, mounting small tanks on lathes, and increasingly, welding tanks using robots.

Robot Welding

While robot welding is commonly associated with the automotive industry, and that is one of the biggest users, there are many other robot welding applications for which laser vision systems are also used.

Laser Welding on an ABB robot with SLPi guidance

Transport

Many welding applications in the transport industry are for very long welds, as shown here in this railway carriage application. Another similar example is the shipyard panel line. There is usually some distortion in the way the parts are prepared or fitted together which means that a weld tracking system is required. Meta has experience in many different transport welding systems.

Energy

Meta has a long and successful track record of installations in the energy sector. For example, we have installed multiple systems for:

Wind Tower Welding
Monopile Welding
Nuclear Vessel Welding
Nuclear Vessel Cladding

We have also installed hundreds of systems for critical pipe manufacture and pipeline applications which are described in the tube & pipe section of this web site.

Automotive

The aim of the original research project at Oxford University, which was spun out to form Meta, was to develop a laser vision system for robot welding in the auto industry. Since we are still very active in that same industry thirty years later with many hundreds of systems installed, it seems that the project was successful.

There are many applications for weld finding, tracking and inspection in the auto industry. These include: