Virtual reality pipe welding simulator

A simulator for facilitating virtual welding activity, comprising:

• a logic processor based subsystem operable to execute coded instructions for generating an interactive welding environment that simulates welding activity on a virtual weldment having at least one open root weld joint wherein the interactive welding environment models fluidity of a weld puddle responsive to performing the virtual welding activity in real-time;
• a personalized display operatively connected to the logic processor based subsystem for visually depicting virtual welding activity within the interactive welding environment and further wherein said display depicts fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of the weld puddle in real-time;
• a mock welding tool for performing the virtual welding activity on the at least one open root weld joint in real time;
• and,
• a spatial tracker adapted to track movement of the mock welding tool in real time, and wherein
• said real-time fluidity and heat dissipation characteristics of said 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, and further wherein
• at least one additional property is modeled, including a directional effect of gravity.

A simulator for facilitating virtual welding activity, comprising:

• a logic processor based subsystem operable to execute coded instructions for generating an interactive welding environment that emulates welding activity on a section of virtual pipe having a virtual weld joint, wherein the interactive welding environment models fluidity of a weld puddle, including a varying directional effect of gravity on the weld puddle as the weld puddle moves around the virtual weld joint, responsive to performing the virtual welding activity in real time;
• said subsystem comprising channels of information in which at least one channel stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at a specific location and at least one other channel which stores a magnitude of heat at said specific location, and wherein at least one additional channel represents a total of an initial base metal plus said displacement value for liquefied metal which has solidified at said specific location when said magnitude of heat falls below a cooling threshold;
• displaying means operatively connected to the logic processor based subsystem for visually depicting the interactive welding environment, wherein said displaying means depicts the section of virtual pipe and the fluidity of the weld puddle, including the directional effect of gravity, in real time;
• an input device for performing virtual welding activity on the virtual weld joint in real time;
• and
• one or more sensors adapted to track movement of the input device in real time for communicating data about the movement of the input device to the logic processor based subsystem.

A simulator for facilitating virtual welding activity, comprising:

• a logic processor based subsystem operable to execute coded instructions for generating an interactive welding environment that simulates welding activity on a virtual weldment having an open root joint, wherein the interactive welding environment models the fluidic modification of root pass weld material in the open root joint and the adding of weld material, in real time, responsive to performing one or more subsequent heat passes as part of the virtual welding activity;
• said subsystem comprising channels of information in which at least one channel stores a displacement value for any liquefied metal at a specific location and at least one other channel which stores a magnitude of heat at said specific location, and wherein at least one additional channel represents a total of an initial base metal plus said displacement value for liquefied metal which has solidified at said specific location when said magnitude of heat falls below a cooling threshold;
• a personalized display operatively connected to the logic processor based subsystem for visually depicting virtual welding activity within the interactive welding environment in real time;
• a mock welding tool for performing the virtual welding activity on the open root joint in real time;
• and
• a spatial tracker adapted to track movement of the mock welding tool in real time.

A simulator for facilitating virtual welding activity, comprising:

• a logic processor based subsystem operable to execute coded instructions for generating an interactive welding environment that simulates welding activity on a virtual weldment having an open root joint, wherein the interactive welding environment models the removal of weld material from a simulated root pass weld in the open root joint, in real time, responsive to performing one or more virtual grinding passes on the root pass weld as part of the virtual welding activity;
• said subsystem comprising channels of information in which at least one channel stores a negative displacement value for any liquefied metal at a specific location and at least one other channel which stores a magnitude of heat at said specific location, and wherein at least one additional channel represents a wexel decimation displacement value at said specific location when said magnitude of heat is above a threshold value;
• a personalized display operatively connected to the logic processor based subsystem for visually depicting virtual welding activity within the interactive welding environment in real time;
• a mock welding tool for performing the one or more virtual grinding passes on the root pass weld in real time;
• and
• a spatial tracker adapted to track movement of the mock welding tool in real time.

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 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 simulates, 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 further wherein
• at least one additional property is modeled selected from the group consisting of a directional effect of gravity, open root welding, and virtual grinding passes on a root pass weld.