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System and method providing arc welding training in a real-time simulated virtual reality environment using real-time weld puddle feedback

DC
  • US 8,747,116 B2
  • Filed: 07/10/2009
  • Issued: 06/10/2014
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A virtual reality welding system comprising:

  • a programmable processor-based subsystem;

    a spatial tracker operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem;

    at least one mock welding tool capable of being spatially tracked by said spatial tracker, said spatial tracker comprising a tactilely resistive tip to simulate resistive feedback that occurs during welding thereby driving feedback for use in adjusting or maintaining welding procedure, said mock welding tool emitting simulated particles onto a surface of a texture map; and

    at least one display device operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem, said display device providing visual cues during welding to provide immediate feedback by displaying overlaid colors or indicators for each tracked parameter based upon predefined limits or tolerances for said tracked parameter, wherein said system simulates, in a virtual reality space, a weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics, and displaying said simulated weld puddle on said at least one display device in real-time, said virtual reality space comprising a welding element displacement map grid, in which said map grid defines surface resolution with changeable channel parameter values assigned to each portion of said grid, said values dynamically changing in real-time during a simulated welding process, said real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said simulated weld puddle provide real-time visual feedback to a user of said mock welding tool when displayed on said at least one display device, said at least one display device comprising a user-viewable face-mounted display device, allowing said user to adjust or maintain a welding technique in real-time in response to said real-time visual feedback, and wherein said real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said simulated weld puddle are illustrated on said texture map comprising channels of information which comprise at least a first channel which stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at a wexel location;

    a second channel which stores a value giving a magnitude of heat at the wexel location;

    a third channel which stores a displacement value for a solidified metal at the wexel location; and

    a fourth channel which stores logical information about the wexel, including a representation regarding slag at the wexel location, and wherein when said particles make contact with the surface of the texture map, said particles interact with each other and the texture map and build up in real-time, wherein more heat is added the nearer the wexel is to an emitter and heat is modeled in dependence on distance and an amount of time that heat is input from the emitter, and said weld puddle is rendered in virtual reality space for wexels having enough heat as wherever said heat exceeds a threshold value, the wexel at that wexel location liquefies, causing the displacement value for said liquefied metal to raise up for those wexel locations, and wherein said displacement is determined by sampling the highest particles at each wexel location, and further wherein as the emitter moves on along the weld trajectory, the wexel locations left behind cool with heat removed from wexel locations at a defined rate, wherein when a cooling threshold is reached, the wexel at that wexel location solidifies.

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