A new tele-robotic welding system (TRWS) with more intelligent welding sensors was investigated. In order to overcome the control difficulties of the TRWS in traditional teleoperation methods, a new control strategy, ‘macroscopic teleoperation, microscopic autonomous’, was presented. Based on the new control strategy, the tele-robotic welding process is analysed, which requires the coordination among operators and machines, and then utilize the advantages of operators and all machines respectively and fully. Therefore the TRWS was modelled and controlled based on multiagent system technologies. Lastly, some practice welding experiments were carried out and the results demonstrated that the agent-based TRWS could complete the practice welding tasks very well.

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