Importing and analyzing external data using a virtual reality welding system

• US 9,836,995 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2017
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lincoln Global Incorporated (Lincoln Electric Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Lincoln Global Incorporated (Lincoln Electric Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Zboray, David Anthony, Bennett, Matthew Alan, Wallace, Matthew Wayne, Hennessey, Jeremiah, Dudac, Yvette Christine, Lenker, Zachary Steven, Lundell, Andrew Paul, Dana, Paul, Preisz, Eric A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Utama, Robert J
• Application Number:
  US15/453,787
• Publication Number:
  US 20170178537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 272 Days
• Field of Search: 434219
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/042 Optical devices night vision goggles G02B23/12
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/30 Mounting radio sets or communication systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/06 Masks, shields or hoods for welders safety devices for welding in general F16P1/00
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/00 Arc welding or cutting electro-slag welding B23K25/00; welding transformers H01F; welding generators H02K
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/09 Arrangements or circuits for arc welding with pulsed current or voltage
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/095 Monitoring or automatic control of welding parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/0953 using computing means
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/0956 using sensing means, e.g. optical
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/10 Other electric circuits therefor; Protective circuits; Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/24 Use of tools
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/04 with audible presentation of the material to be studied sound recording or reproducing G11B
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

A real-time virtual reality welding system including a programmable processor-based subsystem, a spatial tracker operatively connected to the programmable processor-based subsystem, at least one mock welding tool capable of being spatially tracked by the spatial tracker, and at least one display device operatively connected to the programmable processor-based subsystem. The system is capable of simulating, in virtual reality space, a weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics. The system is further capable of importing data into the virtual reality welding system and analyzing the data to characterize a student welder'"'"'s progress and to provide training.

Claims

1. A method for simulating welding activity, said method comprising:

optically tracking a movement and orientation of a welding tool relative to a welding coupon during a simulated welding operation;

receiving information related to said movement and orientation of said welding tool;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding surface for said welding coupon;

displaying said simulated welding surface on each of a first display device and a second display device, where said first display device is disposed in a helmet;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding arc between an emitting end of said welding tool and said simulated welding surface;

modeling a simulated weld puddle generated from a simulated deposition of weld material, wherein said simulated weld puddle has a plurality of welding elements, each welding element having a plurality of values, and where at least some of said values change dynamically during said simulated welding operation based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool, wherein said modeling of said simulated weld puddle includes to model real-time molten metal fluidity and real-time heat dissipation characteristics of said weld puddle;

displaying said simulated welding operation, including said simulated weld puddle and said simulated deposition of said weld material, on either one of or both of said first and second display devices; and

displaying a simulated completed weld bead on either one of or both of said first and second display devices where said simulated completed weld bead is based on a cooling threshold for a transition of said welding elements from a molten state to a solid state and on said movement and orientation of said welding tool.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said optically tracking uses an optical tracker that is mounted on said helmet.

3. The method of claim 1, said method further comprises playing simulated welding sounds from a speaker in said helmet in real-time with the simulated welding operation.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one welding parameter during said simulated welding operation; and

comparing said at least one determined welding parameter to a stored value for said at least one determined welding parameter; and

displaying said comparison on said second display device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said displaying of said comparison is in graphical form.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one welding parameter during said simulated welding operation;

comparing said at least one determined welding parameter to a tolerance window defined by limits around a setpoint for said at least one determined welding parameter; and

displaying said comparison on said second display device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said displaying of said comparison is in graphical form.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a plurality of welding parameters during said simulated welding operation; and

providing a score for each of said plurality of determined welding parameters based on a comparison between said plurality of determined welding parameters and a desired value for each of said plurality of determined welding parameters, respectively.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a plurality of welding parameters during said simulated welding operation; and

determining a presence of a discontinuity within said completed simulated weld bead, where said discontinuity is at least one of spatter and porosity.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying, on either of or both of said first and said second display devices, said discontinuity during said simulated welding operation, in real time, and in said completed simulated weld bead.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating and displaying on said first display device at least one welding effect, which is one of simulated welding sparks, simulated welding spatter, simulated arc glow and simulated porosity during said simulated welding operation, and where said at least one welding effect is displayed, in real time, based on at least one simulated welding parameter.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

changing at least some of said values of at least some of said welding elements of said completed simulated weld bead when said welding tool is used to make a second simulated weld bead over said completed simulated weld bead, and where each of said completed simulated weld bead and said second simulated weld bead are displayed on said first and second display devices at the same time.

13. A method for simulating welding activity, comprising:

tracking a movement and orientation of a welding tool relative to a welding coupon using at least one optical sensor during a simulated welding operation;

receiving information related to said movement and orientation of said welding tool;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding surface for said welding coupon;

displaying said simulated welding surface on each of a first display device and a second display device, where said first display device is disposed in a helmet;

modeling a simulated a weld puddle have real-time molten metal fluidity and real-time heat dissipation characteristics during said simulated welding operation, wherein said simulated weld puddle has a plurality of welding elements, where each of said welding elements has a first value representative of heat;

dynamically changing said first value for at least some of said welding elements during said simulated welding operation to display on each of said first and second display devices simulated deposition of material into said simulated weld puddle, and where said dynamic changes are based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool; and

displaying a simulated completed weld bead on said first and second display devices which is based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool, and based on a cooling threshold value for a transition of said welding elements from a molten state to a solid state,

wherein when said first value of any of said welding elements is higher than said cooling threshold value said first and second display devices display said welding elements in a simulated fluid state and when said first value is lower than said cooling threshold value said first and second display devices display said welding elements in a simulated solid state.

14. A method for simulating welding activity, comprising:

tracking a movement and orientation of a welding tool for a simulated welding operation relative to a welding coupon using at least one optical sensor;

displaying, on a first display device which is disposed in a helmet, said movement and orientation of said welding tool and said simulated welding operation;

displaying, on a second display device, said movement and orientation of said welding tool and said simulated welding operation;

receiving information related to said movement and orientation of said welding tool and using said information to determine a plurality of welding parameters;

displaying, on said second display device, said plurality of welding parameters, in real-time, during said simulated welding operation;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding surface for said welding coupon;

displaying said simulated welding surface on each of said first and second display devices during said simulated welding operation;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding arc between an emitting end of said welding tool and said simulated welding surface;

modeling a simulated weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and real-time heat dissipation characteristics during said simulated welding operation, wherein said simulated weld puddle has a plurality of welding elements, where each of said welding elements has a value representative of heat;

dynamically changing said value of at least some of said welding elements during said simulated welding operation to display on each of said first and second display devices a simulated deposition of material into said simulated weld puddle, and where said dynamic changes are based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool;

displaying a simulated completed weld bead on said first and second display devices which is based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool, and based on a cooling threshold value for a transition of said welding elements from a molten state to a solid state; and

displaying at least one of said plurality of welding parameters in graphical form in real time during said simulated welding operation on said second display device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said helmet further comprises an audio speaker, and said method further comprises simulating welding sounds in real-time with the simulated welding operation.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said plurality of welding parameters include weld angle, travel angle, and travel speed.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

comparing at least one of said plurality of welding parameters to a tolerance window defined by limits around a setpoint for said at least one welding parameter; and

displaying said comparison on said second display device.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

providing a score for each of said plurality of welding parameters based on a comparison between said plurality of welding parameters and a desired value for each of said plurality of welding parameters, respectively.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

displaying, on each of said first and second display devices, a discontinuity during said simulated welding operation, in real time, and in said simulated completed weld bead.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating and displaying on said first display device at least one welding effect, which is one of simulated welding sparks, simulated welding spatter, simulated arc glow and simulated porosity during said simulated welding operation, and where said at least one welding effect is displayed, in real time, based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool.

21. A method for simulating welding activity, said method comprising:

tracking a welding tool to determine a movement and orientation of said welding tool relative to a welding coupon in a simulated welding operation;

displaying, on each of a first display device and a second display device, said simulated welding operation, where said displaying includes displaying said movement and orientation of said welding tool;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding surface on said welding coupon;

displaying said simulated welding surface on each of said first display device and said second display device;

modeling, during said simulated welding operation, a simulated welding arc between an end of said welding tool and said simulated welding surface;

using a plurality of welding elements to model a simulated weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and real-time heat dissipation characteristics during said simulated welding operation, where each of said plurality of said welding elements has at least one value representative of heat which changes dynamically during said simulated welding operation based on said movement and said orientation of said welding tool;

modeling a simulated weld bead based on said movement and orientation of said welding tool, and based on a cooling threshold value for a transition of said first values for said welding elements from a molten state to a solid state; and

displaying said simulated weld bead on said first display device and said second display device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said tracking is performed optically using optical sensors.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said first display device is integrated into a helmet comprising an audio speaker, and further comprising simulating welding sounds in real-time with the simulated welding operation.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining at least one welding parameter during said simulated welding operation; and

comparing said at least one determined welding parameter to a stored value for said at least one determined welding parameter; and

displaying said comparison on said second display device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said displaying of said comparison is in graphical form.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining at least one welding parameter during said simulated welding operation;

comparing said at least one determined welding parameter to a tolerance window defined by limits around a setpoint for said at least one determined welding parameter; and

displaying said comparison on said second display device.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said displaying of said comparison is in graphical form.

28. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a plurality of welding parameters during said simulated welding operation; and

providing a score for each of said plurality of determined welding parameters based on a comparison between said plurality of determined welding parameters and a desired value for each of said plurality of determined welding parameters, respectively.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a plurality of welding parameters during said simulated welding operation;

determining a presence of a discontinuity within said simulated weld bead, where said discontinuity is a presence of at least one of spatter and porosity; and

displaying, on said first display device, said discontinuity during said simulated welding operation, in real time, and in said simulated weld bead.

30. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

generating and displaying on said first display device at least one welding effect, which is one of simulated welding sparks, simulated welding spatter, simulated arc glow and simulated porosity during said simulated welding operation, and where said at least one welding effect is displayed, in real time.