System for tracking and analyzing welding activity

• US RE45,398 E1
• Filed: 02/11/2014
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lincoln Global Incorporated (Lincoln Electric Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Lincoln Global Incorporated (Lincoln Electric Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Wallace, Matthew Wayne
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Han, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US14/177,692
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 257/137.R
• US Class Current: 219/137.R
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 9/0953 using computing means

Abstract

A system and a method for tracking and analyzing welding activity. Dynamic spatial properties of a welding tool are sensed during a welding process producing a weld. The sensed dynamic spatial properties are tracked over time and the tracked dynamic spatial properties are captured as tracked data during the welding process. The tracked data is analyzed to determine performance characteristics of a welder performing the welding process and quality characteristics of a weld produced by the welding process. The performance characteristics and the quality characteristics may be subsequently reviewed.

Claims

1. A system for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

means for automatically sensing dynamic spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld;

means for automatically tracking said sensed dynamic spatial properties over time during said welding process;

means for automatically capturing in real time or near real time said tracked dynamic spatial properties as tracked data during said welding process; and

means for automatically analyzing in real time or near real time said tracked data to determine at least one of performance characteristics of a welder performing said welding process and a quality characteristics characteristic of a said real world weld produced by said welding process.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said analyzing further comprises determining a performance characteristic of a welder performing said welding process, and

said system further comprising comprises means for reviewing said performance characteristics characteristic of a said welder performing said welding process.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for reviewing said quality characteristics characteristic of a said real world weld produced by said welding process.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for a user to locally interact with said system.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for a user to remotely interact with said system.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for automatically authorizing access to a user of said system.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said analyzing comprises determining a performance characteristic of a welder performing said welding process, and

wherein said performance characteristics of a welder include characteristic includes at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a travel speed of said welding tool, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, an electrode trajectory, and a weld time.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said quality characteristics of a weld produced by said welding process include characteristic includes at least one of discontinuities and flaws within regions of a said real world weld produced by said welding process.

9. A system for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

at least one sensor array configured to sense dynamic spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld;

a processor based computing device operatively interfacing to said at least one sensor array and configured to track and analyze in real time or near real time said dynamic spatial properties of a said welding tool over time during a said welding process producing a said real world weld; and

at least one user interface operatively interfacing to said processor based computing device, said at least one user interface displaying a quality characteristic of said real world weld produced by said welding process.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said at least one user interface includes a graphical user interface.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said at least one user interface includes a display device.

12. The system of claim 9 further comprising a network interface configured to interface said processor based computing device to an external communication network.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein said at least one sensor array includes at least one of acoustical sensor elements, optical sensor elements, magnetic sensor elements, inertial sensor elements, and electromagnetic sensor elements.

21. The system of claim 9, wherein said analysis of said spatial properties comprise determining at least one of a performance characteristic of a welder performing said welding process and a quality characteristic of said real world weld.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said performance characteristic includes at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a travel speed of said welding tool, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, an electrode trajectory, and a weld time.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein said quality characteristic includes at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said weld produced by said welding process.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said quality characteristic includes said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein said spatial properties comprise at least one of a position, an orientation, and a movement of said welding tool.

26. The system of claim 9, wherein said welding tool comprises a portion of said at least one sensor array.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said portion of said at least one sensor array includes at least one of acoustical sensor elements, magnetic sensor elements, inertial sensor elements, and electromagnetic sensor elements.

28. The system of claim 12, wherein said network interface is configured to transmit data representing said welding process to a remote system.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said transmitted data comprises information related to a welder'"'"'s performance.

30. The system of claim 9, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record in real time or near real time performance data corresponding to said welding process, and

wherein said performance data comprises at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said analyzing further comprises comparing said performance data to known parameters to determine said quality characteristic of said real world weld.

33. The system of claim 9, wherein said analyzing comprises determining a score based on a comparison of at least one of said tracked spatial properties to an optimum value corresponding to said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein said tracked spatial properties comprise at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said tracked spatial properties includes said welding tool pitch angle.

37. The system of claim 9, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

38. The system of claim 9, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

39. The system of claim 11, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

40. The system of claim 9, wherein said processor based computing device is configured to set up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

41. The system of claim 9, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

42. The system of claim 9, wherein said analysis is performed by an expert system configured identify defective or potentially defective areas along a weld joint.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein said expert system comprises at least one of a rule-based system and a neural network.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein said expert system is said neural network and said analysis is based on weighted factors.

45. The system of claim 9, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to capture information corresponding to said welding process in an analysis record for subsequent review.

14. A method for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said method comprising:

sensing dynamic spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld using at least one sensor;

tracking said sensed dynamic spatial properties over time in real time or near real time during said welding process using a real time tracking module;

capturing said tracked dynamic spatial properties as tracked data in real time or near real time during said welding process using a computer based memory device; and

analyzing said tracked data in real time or near real time to determine at least one of performance characteristics of a welder performing said welding process and a quality characteristics characteristic of a said real world weld produced by said welding process using a computer based analysis engine.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said analyzing further comprises determining a performance characteristic of a welder performing said welding process, and

wherein said method further comprising comprises outputting said performance characteristics characteristic of a said welder performing said welding process to at least one of a display device, a visualization module, and a testing module for review.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising outputting said quality characteristics characteristic of a said real world weld produced by said welding process to at least one of a display device, a visualization module, and a testing module for review.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising selecting welding set up parameters for said welding process via a user interface.

18. The method of claim 14 15 further comprising remotely reviewing at least one of said performance characteristics characteristic of a said welder performing said welding process and said quality characteristics characteristic of a said real world weld produced by said welding process, via a communication network.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein said analyzing further comprises determining a performance characteristic of a welder performing said welding process, and

wherein said performance characteristics of a welder include characteristic includes at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a travel speed of said welding tool, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, an electrode trajectory, and a weld time.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein said quality characteristics of a weld produced by said welding process include characteristic includes at least one of discontinuities and flaws within regions of a said real world weld produced by said welding process.

46. The method of claim 14, wherein said sensing comprises measuring at least one of an acoustical signal, a magnetic signal, an optical signal, inertial signal, and an electromagnetic signal.

47. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting to a remote system data representing said welding process.

48. The method of claim 47, further comprising analyzing said welding process based on said transmitted data.

49. The method of claim 14, further comprising recording in real time or near real time performance data corresponding to said welding process,

wherein said performance data comprises at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said recording further comprises recording data corresponding to at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein said analyzing comprises comparing said performance data to known parameters to determine said quality characteristic of said real world weld.

52. The method of claim 14, wherein said analyzing comprises determining a score based on a comparison of at least one of said tracked spatial properties to an optimum value.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein said tracked spatial properties comprise at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein said tracked spatial properties includes said welding tool pitch angle.

56. The method of claim 14, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

57. The method of claim 14, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

58. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing information on said welding process an analysis record.

59. The method of claim 15, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

60. The method of claim 16, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

61. The method of claim 14, further comprising setting up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

62. The method of claim 14, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

63. The method of claim 14, further comprising using an expert system to identify defective or potentially defective areas along said weld.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein said expert system uses at least one of a rule-based system and a neural network.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein said expert system uses said neural network and said identification is based on weighted factors.

66. The method of claim 14, further comprising capturing information corresponding to said welding process in an analysis record for subsequent review.

67. The method of claim 20, wherein said flaws comprise at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein said spatial properties comprise at least one of a position, an orientation, and a movement of said welding tool.

69. A system for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

at least one sensor array configured to sense spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld; and

a processor based computing device operatively interfacing to said at least one sensor array and configured to track said spatial properties and record performance data corresponding to said welding process, said processor based computing device further configured to determine a quality characteristic of said real world weld.

70. The system of claim 69, wherein said analysis comprises comparing said performance data to known parameters to determine said quality characteristic of said weld.

71. The system of claim 70, wherein said quality characteristic includes at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said weld.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein said recording is performed in real time or near real time.

73. The system of claim 72, wherein said spatial properties comprise at least one of a position, an orientation, and a movement of said welding tool, and

wherein said performance data comprises at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

75. The system of claim 73, wherein said analyzing further comprises determining a score based on at least a comparison of at least one of said tracked spatial properties to an optimum value said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

77. The system of claim 76, wherein said tracked spatial properties comprise at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

78. The system of claim 77, wherein said tracked spatial properties includes said welding tool pitch angle.

79. The system of claim 71, wherein said quality characteristic includes said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

80. The system of claim 69, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

81. The system of claim 69, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

82. The system of claim 69, further comprising a display device to display said quality characteristic.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

84. The system of claim 69, wherein said processor based computing device is configured to set up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

85. The system of claim 69, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

86. The system of claim 69, wherein said analysis is performed by an expert system configured identify defective or potentially defective areas along said weld.

87. The system of claim 86, wherein said expert system is a neural network and said analysis is based on weighted factors.

88. The system of claim 69, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to capture information corresponding to said welding process in an analysis record for subsequent review.

89. A system for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

a tracking module configured to track spatial positions of a welding tool during a welding process; and

a processor subsystem configured to ascertain at least one welding parameter during the welding process based on said tracked spatial positions and to determine a score based on a comparison of said at least one welding parameter to an optimum value.

90. The system of claim 89, wherein said at least one welding parameter includes a performance characteristic of a welder.

91. The system of claim 89, wherein said at least one welding parameter includes a quality characteristic of a weld.

92. The system of claim 89, wherein said at least one welding parameter includes a performance characteristic of a welder and a quality characteristic of a weld.

93. The system of claim 89, wherein said processor subsystem includes an expert system.

94. The system of claim 93, wherein said expert system comprises at least one of a rule-based system and a neural network.

95. The system of claim 89, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one welding parameter.

96. The system of claim 95, wherein said at least one welding parameter comprises at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

97. The system of claim 96, wherein said tracked spatial properties includes said welding tool pitch angle.

98. The system of claim 97, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

99. The system of claim 89, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

100. The system of claim 91, further comprising a display device to display said quality characteristic.

101. The system of claim 100, wherein said display is integrated into a welding helmet.

102. The system of claim 89, wherein said processor based computing device is configured to set up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

103. The system of claim 89, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

104. A method for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said method comprising:

sensing spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld;

tracking said sensed spatial properties;

recording performance data corresponding to said welding process; and

analyzing said performance data in real-time or near real-time to determine a quality characteristic of said real world weld produced by said welding process.

105. The method of claim 104, wherein said analyzing comprises comparing said performance data to a known parameter to determine said quality characteristic of said real world weld.

106. The method of claim 105, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

107. The method of claim 105, wherein said quality characteristic includes at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said real world weld.

108. The method of claim 107, wherein said quality characteristic includes said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

109. The method of claim 107, wherein said recording is performed in real time or near real time.

110. The method of claim 109, wherein said spatial properties comprise at least one of a position, an orientation, and a movement of said welding tool, and

wherein said performance data comprises at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch and roll angles, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

111. The method of claim 110, wherein further comprising recording at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

112. The method of claim 104, wherein said analyzing further comprises determining a score based on at least a comparison of at least one of said tracked spatial properties to an optimum value.

113. The method of claim 112, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one of said tracked spatial properties.

114. The method of claim 113, wherein said tracked spatial properties comprise at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

115. The system of claim 114, wherein said tracked spatial properties includes said welding tool pitch angle.

116. The method of claim 104, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

117. The method of claim 104, further comprising outputting said quality characteristic to a display device.

118. The method of claim 117, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

119. The method of claim 104, further comprising setting up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

120. The method of claim 104, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

121. The method of claim 104, further comprising using an expert system to identify defective or potentially defective areas along said weld.

122. The method of claim 121, wherein said expert system is a neural network and said identification is based on weighted factors.

123. The method of claim 104, further comprising capturing information corresponding to said welding process in an analysis record for subsequent review.

124. A method for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

tracking spatial positions of a welding tool during a welding process;

determining at least one welding parameter during the welding process based on said tracked spatial positions;

determining a score based on a comparison of said at least one welding parameter to an optimum value.

125. The method of claim 124, wherein said determining of said at least one welding parameter comprises analyzing a performance characteristic of a welder.

126. The method of claim 124, wherein said determining of said at least one welding parameter comprises analyzing a quality characteristic of a weld.

127. The method of claim 124, wherein said determining of said at least one welding parameter comprises analyzing a performance characteristic of a welder and a quality characteristic of a weld.

128. The method of claim 124, wherein said determining of said at least one welding parameter comprises using an expert system.

129. The method of claim 128, wherein said expert system uses at least one of a rule-based system and a neural network.

130. The method of claim 124, wherein said optimum value is a range comprising an upper limit and a lower limit for said at least one welding parameter.

131. The method of claim 130, wherein said at least one welding parameter comprises at least one of a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, welding tool pitch angle, welding tool roll angle, an electrode distance to a center weld joint, a wire feed speed, and an electrode trajectory.

132. The method of claim 131, wherein said at least one welding parameter includes said welding tool pitch angle.

133. The method of claim 124, wherein said welding process is performed manually.

134. The method of claim 124, wherein said welding process is performed by a robotic welder.

135. The method of claim 124, further comprising setting up a virtual reality setting in which said welding process can be simulated using said spatial properties of said welding tool.

136. The system of claim 124, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

137. A system for tracking welding activity, said system comprising:

an optical tracking system that tracks at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool; and

a computer operatively interfacing to said optical tracking system, said computer determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

wherein said processor based computing device determines for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

138. The system of claim 137, wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

139. The system of claim 138, wherein said score relates to said weld quality of said real world weld, and

wherein said weld quality includes an indication of at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said real world weld.

140. The system of claim 139, wherein said weld quality includes an indication of said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

141. The system of claim 139, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

142. The system of claim 138, wherein an expert system identifies defective or potentially defective areas along said real world weld.

143. The system of claim 137, wherein said at least one parameter further includes at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

144. The system of claim 137, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

145. The system of claim 137, wherein said at least one predetermined limit includes an upper limit and a lower limit.

146. The system of claim 137, further comprising a display device to display said score.

147. The system of claim 146, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

148. The system of claim 137, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

149. A system for tracking welding activity, said system comprising:

an infrared tracking system that tracks at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared element attached to said welding tool; and

a computer operatively interfacing to said infrared tracking system, said computer determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

wherein said computer determines for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

150. The system of claim 149, wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

151. The system of claim 150, wherein an expert system identifies defective or potentially defective areas along said real world weld.

152. The system of claim 150, wherein said score relates to said weld quality of said real world weld, and

wherein said weld quality includes an indication of at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said real world weld.

153. The system of claim 152, wherein said weld quality includes an indication of said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

154. The system of claim 152, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

155. The system of claim 149, wherein said at least one parameter further includes at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

156. The system of claim 149, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

157. The system of claim 149, wherein said at least one predetermined limit includes an upper limit and a lower limit.

158. The system of claim 149, further comprising a display device to display said score.

159. The system of claim 158, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

160. The system of claim 149, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

161. A method for tracking welding activity, said method comprising:

optically tracking at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool;

determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool; and

computing for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

162. The method of claim 161, wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

163. The method of claim 162, wherein an expert system identifies defective or potentially defective areas along said real world weld.

164. The method of claim 162, wherein said score relates to said weld quality of said real world weld, and

wherein said weld quality includes an indication of at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said real world weld.

165. The method of claim 164, wherein said weld quality includes an indication of said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

166. The method of claim 164, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

167. The method of claim 161, wherein said at least one parameter further includes at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

168. The method of claim 167, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

169. The method of claim 161, wherein said at least one predetermined limit includes an upper limit and a lower limit.

170. The method of claim 161, further comprising a display device to display said score.

171. The method of claim 170, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

172. The method of claim 161, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

173. A method for tracking welding activity, said method comprising:

tracking by infrared at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared element attached to said welding tool;

determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool; and

computing for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

174. The method of claim 173, wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

175. The method of claim 174, wherein said score relates to said weld quality of said real world weld, and

wherein said weld quality includes an indication of at least one of a discontinuity and a flaw within a region of said real world weld.

176. The method of claim 175, wherein said weld quality includes an indication of said flaw and said flaw comprises at least one of porosity and weld overfill.

177. The method of claim 175, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

178. The method of claim 174, wherein an expert system identifies defective or potentially defective areas along said real world weld.

179. The method of claim 173, wherein said at least one parameter further includes at least one of a weld joint configuration or a weld joint trajectory, a weld speed, a wire feed speed, an electrode trajectory, a weld time, and time and date data.

180. The method of claim 179, wherein said processor based computing device is further configured to record at least one of weldment materials, electrode materials, user name, and project ID number.

181. The method of claim 173, wherein said at least one predetermined limit includes an upper limit and a lower limit.

182. The method of claim 173, further comprising a display device to display said score.

183. The method of claim 182, wherein said display device is integrated into a welding helmet.

184. The method of claim 173, wherein said welding tool is one of an electrode holder and a welding torch.

185. A system for tracking and analyzing welding activity, said system comprising:

at least one sensor array configured to sense spatial properties of a welding tool during a welding process producing a real world weld;

a processor based computing device operatively interfacing to said at least one sensor array and configured to track and analyze in real time or near real time said spatial properties of said welding tool during said welding process producing said real world weld; and

at least one display interfacing to said processor based computing device, said at least one display displaying a quality characteristic of said real world weld produced by said welding process.

186. A system for tracking welding activity, said system comprising:

an infrared tracking system that tracks at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared emitter attached to said welding tool; and

a computer operatively interfacing to said infrared tracking system, said computer determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

wherein said computer determines for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

187. A method for tracking welding activity, said method comprising:

tracking by infrared at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared emission from said welding tool;

determining at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

computing for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter.

188. A system for tracking welding activity, said system comprising:

an optical tracking system that tracks in real time or near real time at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool; and

a computer operatively interfacing to said optical tracking system, said computer determining in real time or near real time at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

wherein said processor based computing device determines for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter, and

wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

189. The system of claim 188, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

190. A system for tracking welding activity, said system comprising:

an infrared tracking system that tracks in real time or near real time at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared element attached to said welding tool; and

a computer operatively interfacing to said infrared tracking system, said computer determining in real time or near real time at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool,

wherein said computer determines for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter, and

wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

191. The system of claim 190, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

192. A method for tracking welding activity, said method comprising:

optically tracking in real time or near real time at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool;

determining in real time or near real time at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool; and

computing for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter, and

wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

193. The method of claim 192, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.

194. A method for tracking welding activity, said method comprising:

tracking by infrared in real time or near real time at least one of a position, a movement, and an orientation of a welding tool based on an infrared element attached to said welding tool;

determining in real time or near real time at least one parameter that is at least one of a travel speed, a pitch angle, a roll angle, and an electrode distance to a center weld joint of said welding tool; and

computing for each of said at least one parameter a score based on a comparison of said parameter to at least one predetermined limit for said parameter, and

wherein said score relates to a weld quality of a real world weld.

195. The method of claim 194, wherein said determination of said score is performed in real time or near real time.