Development of Dynamic Laser Ultrasonic System Using Microchip Laser Mounted on a Robot Arm

The laser ultrasonic method is highly applicable to in-process and in-line measurement as a technology that enables non-contact ultrasonic detection. Previous studies have reported measurements using laser ultrasonic for various applications, however, most were measurements using fixed systems. There is a need for a dynamic UT system in which the laser ultrasonic measurement system itself can move. Therefore, we made it possible to mount the laser system on a robot arm by using a compact microchip laser as the ultrasonic generation source. We measured the artificial back surface slit and verified its detectability performance as a dynamic robot UT system.