Patent ID: 6949005

Claim:
A grinding assembly for grinding a weld joint of a workpiece, comprising: a grinder apparatus including: a grinding wheel configured to grind the weld joint; a member configured to receive the grinding wheel, the member being configured to be removably attached to the grinder apparatus; and a sensor assembly configured to detect a contact between the grinding wheel and the workpiece; a processing circuitry in communication with the grinder apparatus and configured to control operations of the grinder apparatus, the processing circuitry configured to receive weld defect information of the weld joint from an inspection assembly to create a contour grinding profile to grind the weld joint in a predetermined shape based on the received weld defect information, the processing circuitry configured to detect the contact to determine a position of the grinding wheel relative to the workpiece in order to manipulate at least the workpiece or a platform carrying the grinder apparatus into a position to grind the weld defect of the workpiece, the processing circuitry further configured to operate the grinding wheel to grind the weld joint based on the contour grinding profile; and a manipulator having an end configured to carry the grinder apparatus, the manipulator further configured to operate in multiple dimensions.