Patent ID: 8450633

Claim:
A method for selecting a candidate weld gun for a weld operation, comprising a computer executing the steps of: defining a weld operation comprising a plurality of weld points located about a workpiece, each weld point including a set of weld process parameters; identifying a plurality of weld guns operable to execute each of the weld process parameters; identifying geometric constraints for each of the weld guns; determining allowable weld gun approach angle orientations for each of the weld points; calculating weld gun geometric constraints for each weld gun approach angle orientation; creating a data structure comprising: the weld gun geometric constraints for each of the weld guns, a set of cells defining geometric proximity to the weld guns, and geometric constraints for each of the weld gun approach angle orientations; identifying a valid weld gun orientation comprising a weld gun approach angle orientation having geometric constraints within one of the cells defining geometric proximity to the weld guns; and, selecting a candidate weld gun comprising the weld gun having at least one valid weld gun orientation for each of the weld points within the set of cells defining the geometric proximity to the weld gun.