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

A method of training using a virtual reality welding system, said method comprising:

• moving a first mock welding tool with respect to a welding coupon in accordance with a first welding technique, said first mock welding tool emitting simulated particles onto a surface of a texture map;
• tracking said first mock welding tool in three-dimensional space using said virtual reality welding system, and wherein said step of tracking further comprises calculating a real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of a simulated weld puddle are illustrated on a texture map comprising channels of information which comprise at least a first channel which stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at the wexel location;
• a second channel which stores a value giving the 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;
• viewing a display of said virtual reality welding system showing a real-time virtual reality simulation of said first mock welding tool and said welding coupon in a virtual reality space as said simulated first mock welding tool deposits a first simulated weld bead material onto at least one simulated surface of said simulated welding coupon by forming a simulated weld puddle in a vicinity of a simulated arc emitting from said simulated first mock welding tool, said display 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;
• viewing, on said display, first real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said first simulated weld puddle, said simulated weld puddle 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;
• using a tactilely resistive tip on said first mock welding tool to simulate resistive feedback that occurs during welding thereby driving feedback for use in adjusting or maintaining welding procedure;
• and modifying, in real-time, at least one aspect of said first welding technique in response to viewing said first real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said first simulated weld puddle, 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 a wexel is to the emitter and heat is modeled in dependence on distance and the 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 map 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 a 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 map solidifies.

A welding simulation comprising:

• means for creating a simulated real-time weld puddle, said means emitting simulated particles onto a surface of a texture map;
• means for simulating a real-time molten metal fluidity characteristic of said simulated weld puddle;
• and
• means for simulating a real-time heat dissipation characteristic of said simulated weld puddle;
• means for displaying said simulated weld puddle with at least said simulated molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics on a user-viewable face-mounted display device;
• means for providing tactile resistive feedback that occurs during welding thereby driving feedback for use in adjusting or maintaining welding procedure;
• and
• means for 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, and wherein said means for providing visual cues includes
• real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said simulated weld puddle which are illustrated on a texture map comprising channels of information which comprise at least
• a first channel which stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at the wexel location;
• a second channel which stores a value giving the 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 a wexel is to the emitter and heat is modeled in dependence on distance and the 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 map 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 map solidifies.

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 emitting simulated particles onto a surface of a welding element map and configured to be spatially tracked by said spatial tracker;
• and at least one display device operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem;
• wherein said system is configured to simulate, in a virtual reality space, a weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics, and display said simulated weld puddle on said at least one display device in real-time;
• and wherein said weld puddle is represented in the virtual reality space as a portion of said welding element map comprising a plurality of welding elements each having changeable channel parameter values that dynamically change in real time during a simulated welding process and represent at least a molten metal fluidity displacement and a solid metal displacement, based upon a cooling threshold value for said transition between said molten metal to a solid metal.

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 emitting simulated particles onto a surface and configured to be spatially tracked by said spatial tracker;
• and
• at least one display device operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem,
• wherein said system is configured to simulate, in a virtual reality space, a weld puddle created by those particles having sufficient heat, and having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics, and display said simulated weld puddle on said at least one display device in real-time;
• and wherein
• said weld puddle is represented in the virtual reality space as a puddle displacement layer overlaid onto a solid displacement layer that is modified in real time by the puddle displacement layer, based upon a cooling threshold value for said transition between said molten metal to said solid metal.

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 emitting simulated particles onto a surface and configured to be spatially tracked by said spatial tracker;
• and
• at least one display device operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem;
• and wherein
• said system is configured to simulate, in a virtual reality space, a weld puddle created by those particles having sufficient heat, and having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics, and display said simulated weld puddle on said at least one display device in real-time;
• and wherein
• said weld puddle is represented in the virtual reality space as a plurality of temporally temporary virtual dynamic fluid particles interacting with a portion of a welding element displacement map in real time to maintain a processing load of said programmable processor-based subsystem to be substantially constant during a simulated welding process.

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 emitting simulated particles onto a surface and configured to be spatially tracked by said spatial tracker;
• and
• at least one display device operatively connected to said programmable processor-based subsystem;
• and wherein
• said system is configured to simulate, in a virtual reality space, a weld puddle having real-time molten metal fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics, and display said simulated weld puddle on said at least one display device in real-time;
• and wherein
• said weld puddle is represented in the virtual reality space by a displacement map and a particle system in which particles in said particle system interact and collide with said displacement map, each of said particles being virtual dynamic particles and provide the liquid behavior of said weld puddle, and further wherein
• a texture map is created in which each element of said map is a wexel comprised of at least four channels of information which defines a weldable surface in said virtual reality space, each channel containing at least four floating point numbers in which said channels comprise:
• a first channel which stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at the wexel location;
• a second channel which stores a value giving the 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
• 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 the emitter and heat is modeled in dependence on distance and the 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.