Patent ID: 6947802

Claim:
A method of controlling a laser beam system, the method comprising the steps of: a) directing an incident laser beam onto a workpiece; b) providing at least one command signal from a controller to at least one auxiliary device to control an output parameter generated by said at least one auxiliary device, wherein at least one auxiliary device is one of an energy source and an automatic process controller; c) detecting said output parameter generated by at least one auxiliary device and adjusting said at least one command signal provided to at least one auxiliary device based on said detected output; c1) detecting at least one signal emitted from said workpiece in response to said incident laser beam at an optical detector, said detector generating two outputs based on said at least one signal; and c2) adjusting at least one command signal from said controller to at least one auxiliary device to control said at least one signal emitted from said workpiece, said at least one command signal provided by said controller is based upon a ratio of said two outputs and a magnitude of at least one of said two outputs.