During the welding manufacturing process of metal structure with spatial position

the space position and attitude of welding torch relative to the being welded point of workpiece directly affects the forming quality of weld seam. The main research and application aspects of computer vision in the field of welding are analyzed briefly

the current research progress on the detection and control methods of the space position and attitude of welding torch is summarized and concluded

and the technical features along with their merits and drawbacks in application of various methods are discussed. On this basis

two kinds of visual sensors based on the combination of laser structured lights

which were proposed by authors of this paper

are introduced. These two visual sensors can realize the integration of multi-functions such as the detection of cross-sectional sizes of welding groove

the weld seam tracking and the detection of space position and attitude of welding torch in the welding process. Finally

the advantages of the 3 D visual sensor based on Vcsel is pointed out

which has a worthy research and application prospect as the visual sensor in the welding fabrication process.