Robots are commonly used for automated MIG (Metal Inert Gas) or TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding in many industries such as automotive manufacturing. A weld procedure is defined and the robot performs motion control of the weld torch along the weld seam, while starting and stopping the arc as desired along the weld seams. The robot controls the motion of the torch along the weld path. The motion is defined by a combination of the position and orientation of the torch which is attached to the robot end-effector. The weld specification will generally prescribe a portion or all of the desired orientation of the torch. This information can be used to reduce the complexity of programming a weld path for a robot.