System and Method for Automated Artificial Vision Guided Dispensing Viscous Fluids for Caulking and Sealing Operations

A sealing system for automated artificial vision-guided dispensing of viscous fluids for caulking and sealing operations around one or more features on a part, comprising:

• a mobile platform for gross positioning of said system relative to said part containing said one or more features;
• a dispensing device for applying sealant to said one or more features, said dispensing device including a dispensing nozzle having a dispensing tip;
• a positioning device mounted on said mobile platform to which said dispensing device is attached for positioning the dispensing device relative to said one or more features;
• a first sensing device for determining the position of the mobile platform relative to said part;
• a second sensing device for determining the position of said one or more features on said part with respect to the dispensing device, said second sensing device including a vision sensor and a vision processor interfaced with said vision sensor and said dispensing device, said vision processor being programmed with instructions to process images of the one or more features being sealed and said dispensing tip to determine an optimum position and orientation said dispensing tip needs to be positioned in with respect to said one or more features prior to dispensing said sealant;
• and
• a controller connected to, and controlling said positioning device and said dispensing device based on feedback from said second sensing device, said controller being programmed for
• instructing said positioning device to move said dispensing tip to said optimum position and orientation, and
• controlling of an amount of the sealant exiting said dispensing tip prior to the sealant being completely deposited onto said feature being sealed based on real-time processing of the visual images of the sealant being dispensed which are acquired during dispensing of the sealant to produce a seal.