Vision guided robotic path planning for material processing systems

A computer-implemented method for designing a processing path to process at least one part from a three-dimensional workpiece by a material processing system that comprises a torch coupled to a robotic frame having at least one robotic arm, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a computing device in electrical communication with the material processing system, material processing system data, part data for the at least one part, and workpiece data for the workpiece, wherein the part data or the workpiece data includes a template processing path for guiding processing of the at least one part from the workpiece;
• locating, by the computing device, the workpiece within an operable envelope relative to the robotic frame to detect one or more visual indicators on the workpiece;
• generating, by the computing device, a workpiece point cloud for the workpiece located within the operable envelope, the workpiece point cloud includes a set of spatial points defining the workpiece;
• projecting, by the computing device, the template processing path onto the workpiece point cloud to create an initial processing path for processing the part from the workpiece;
• and
• generating, by the computing device, a final processing path by automatically adjusting the initial processing path based on the one or more visual indicators detected.

A material processing system for cutting a part from a workpiece, the material processing system comprising:

• a robotic arm possessing six degrees of freedom of movement in space;
• a plasma arc torch operably connected to the robotic arm;
• a plurality of cameras disposed about the robotic arm and oriented to selectively analyze the workpiece located within an operable envelope of the robotic arm to generate a plurality of images;
• and
• a computing device in electrical communication with the plurality of cameras, the computing device configured to determine a processing path for the robotic arm across the workpiece based on a composite of the plurality of images.