Welding work support system as well as welding work support method

Abstract

To quickly and accurately provide a welding operator with information about selection of a welding spot, a welding position, a welding condition and the like, using a projection mapping technique.SOLUTION: In performing manual welding work, a welding work support system selects a subsequent component 110 to be welded, on the basis of design data, displays a position and a welding spot of the component 110 to be welded, by heavy lines 81 and 82 for designation, which further displays a welding condition display screen 60 at the same time. Further the welding work support system can automatically set a welder that is used for welding, through a system every time of welding, which can reduce time for set-up before welding by an operator 150. A motion capture detects a motion of a welding torch 130. The system automatically determines quality in each welding, using the motion of the welding torch 130 and actual performance data on the welder.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention is a system for supporting welding work at work sites where welding is performed manually, which provides appropriate instructions on the welding object and welding instruction information before the work is started to workers who perform the welding work manually, and also automatically performs quality checks after welding.

[0002] In mass production manufacturing sites using assembly line processes, it is common to use an automatic welding robot to automatically weld a large number of welding points on an object to be welded. An example of this is an automobile production line, where the welding machine is set during welding, detection data during welding is acquired by various sensors, and the detected settings and data are associated with the welding points and stored in a storage device by linking them with the control program of the automatic welding robot. In welding work using an automatic welding robot, the welding work is performed automatically by a program, so there is no risk of missing a welding point, and correct welding is reliably performed. In addition, detailed acquisition of welding machine data and records of welding operations makes it easier to automatically judge the quality.

[0003] In the case of large objects to be welded that are not suitable for assembly line work, such as railroad cars and ships, the worker who performs the welding identifies the welding points while checking design drawings and work instructions, checks the welding conditions at the welding points (such as the current and voltage settings of the welding machine based on the drawings), and performs the work according to the welding conditions. After the welding work is completed, the welding state is visually checked to check the quality of the welding state. When checking the quality, the workmanship such as the bead shape and penetration shape of the welded points may be further checked using inspection equipment such as ultrasonic inspection. In this way, when welding work is performed manually, there is a problem that a lot of time is spent on setup work such as checking design drawings and work instructions and sequentially setting the welding machine. In addition, there is a problem that the objects to be welded manually are often large, and there are often an extremely large number of welding points, and the quality of the welding work tends to depend on the skill of the worker.

[0004] In order to support manual work, a work support system is known that provides confirmation of the contents of design drawings, dimensions, and work conditions to a worker in a timely manner before the work is started, thereby shortening the lead time required for the work. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a work support system that projects a first marker and a second marker onto the surface of a work before it becomes a target shape, so that the first marker and the second marker coincide on the surface of the work when the work is deformed into a target shape, thereby enabling the work content for the work to be determined without using a three-dimensional measuring machine, thereby supporting the worker to shorten the work time. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-37162 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to realize a welding work support system that uses projection mapping technology to quickly and accurately provide a worker with various information such as the selection of parts to be welded and welding locations, the welding position on the welding object, and the welding conditions. Another object of the present invention is to realize a welding work support system that prevents manual oversight of welding points, automatically evaluates welding quality using a system, and provides appropriate feedback to the worker, thereby reducing the labor required for the worker to check the welding condition and enabling the achievement of high-quality work. Yet another object of the present invention is to realize a welding work support system that can achieve high-quality and highly traceable work management by acquiring locations of manual welding work and recording them in association with the history of the welding state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] Representative features of the invention disclosed in this application are as follows. According to one feature of the present invention, when performing manual welding work, the welding work support system selects the welding object based on the design drawing (3D-CAD data, etc.), generates welding work instructions that realize the appropriate penetration depth based on the plate thickness, groove, and surrounding shape of the welding object, and displays them on the welding object by projection mapping. This display includes the display of the welding parts, the position specification of the welding point, and the welding work conditions. In addition, the welding work support system automatically sets the optimal welding machine settings (welding mode) for the welding point to be welded, significantly reducing the setup time of the worker. The worker can concentrate on performing high-quality manual welding work.

[0008] According to another feature of the present invention, after the worker performs welding, the welding operation support system records in a storage device information instructing the worker, historical data on the movement and operation of the welding torch by the worker, and welding performance data obtained from the welding machine. Using the recorded data, the welding penetration depth and bead shape are estimated in real time, and the quality of the weld, including the unwelded length on the back side of the weld, is judged.

[0009] According to another feature of the present invention, the welding operation support system of the present invention has a storage unit for storing 3D-CAD data having operation information, a processor unit for creating welding operation instructions for a welding object using the 3D-CAD data, and a projector for displaying an image in a state aligned with each part of the welding object, and the welding operation instructions created by the processor unit are included in the image and displayed to support manual welding of the welding object using a welding machine. In this case, a marker is provided on a welding torch held by a worker, and a capture device is provided to detect the position and movement of the marker when performing welding. The processor unit (a) displays the designation of the next welding object of the welding object and the content of the welding operation by projection mapping, (b) sets a welding mode for the welding machine according to the welding conditions included in the 3D-CAD data by communicating with the welding machine, (c) when the welding operation by the worker is started, detects the welding range during welding by the capture device, and acquires welding data during welding from the welding machine by communication, and (d) when the welding operation by the worker is completed, judges the welding quality based on the acquired welding range and welding data. (e) If the result is satisfactory, the above steps (a) to (d) are repeated for the next welding object; (f) If the result is unsatisfactory, the welding work is instructed to be corrected by projection mapping, and after the worker has completed the correction work, the above steps (a) to (d) are repeated for the next welding object.

[0010] According to another feature of the present invention, the display area of ​​the projector is set to a range on the object to be welded that includes the position of the object to be welded. Also, by providing an input means capable of photographing a marker attached to the welding torch, a motion capture function is realized in the welding operation support system. The 3D-CAD data is design data of the object to be welded, and the part required for the welding operation is acquired in advance or from outside as appropriate during the operation of the welding operation support system. The 3D-CAD data includes information on the parts to be used, the assembly procedure of the parts, and the welding points during assembly, and the processor unit specifies and displays the step (a) according to the assembly procedure of the parts. During this display, it is preferable to set a welding condition display screen near the welding point and display the details of the welding operation within the welding condition display screen.

[0011] According to yet another feature of the present invention, a correction work content manual to be displayed when the welding work is judged to be inappropriate is stored in advance in a storage device of the welding work support system, and the relevant part of the correction work content manual is displayed in the instruction to correct the welding work in step (f). The welding quality is judged in step (d) based on the actual operation data of the welding machine, the operation data of the welding torch, and the shape information in the 3D-CAD data. Furthermore, when the designation of the welding object displayed in step (a) involves the installation of parts on the welding object, the name of the installed parts and the instruction information of the installation position are also displayed. Furthermore, the quality judged in step (d) and the actual data of the welding work are stored in the storage device, thereby recording a detailed history of the welding work. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, the welding worker only needs to carry out the welding work according to the work instruction information (designation of the next welding object, welding conditions, welding position, etc.) displayed by projection mapping so as to be superimposed on the welding object (or the surrounding work surface) such as a railway vehicle, etc., and perform the welding work according to the displayed instructions. This can significantly reduce the setup time before the welding work, the time required to check the attachment parts, determine the attachment position, and check the welding points. In addition, the movement trajectory of the welding torch and the welding data acquired by the welding machine are acquired and recorded during the welding work, and the quality is automatically checked by the processor unit using these records, so that the confirmation time required after the work can be shortened and high-quality welding can be achieved. Furthermore, if a welding defect occurs, an alarm and a work correction instruction are issued from the system, so that the risk of leaving the defective welded area unrepaired can be avoided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram for explaining an application example of a welding operation support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where a worker is performing welding using a welding machine 120. [Diagram 3] 1 is a block diagram of a welding operation support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a welding work instruction sheet 61 displayed on the projector 40 shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a state after welding of an object 100 to be welded and an object 110 to be welded. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a work correction instruction 62 displayed on the projector 40 shown in FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 7] 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the welding operation support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, a welding operation support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiment is an example for explaining the present invention, and appropriate omissions and simplifications have been made to clarify the explanation. The position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings do not accurately represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc., in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range, etc. shown in the drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an application example of a welding operation support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, the welding workpiece 100 to be welded is, for example, a railway vehicle, and FIG. 1 shows only a part of a railway vehicle in the front-rear direction during welding work in a manufacturing process. Here, the X direction indicates the same direction as the running direction of the railway vehicle, and the +X direction is one side in the traveling direction (for example, the front side). The +Z direction is the vertical upward direction, and the +Y direction is one side perpendicular to the traveling direction (for example, the right side). A railway vehicle has a semi-monocoque structure in which a floor surface 101, a right side wall surface 102, a left side wall surface 103, and a ceiling 104 are formed of metal plates, but the shape of the welding workpiece 100 is not limited in the present invention, and the welding work can be applied to any object. A plurality of windows 105 cut out in a rectangular shape are formed in the right side wall surface 102 of the welding workpiece 100, and a plurality of windows 106 cut out in a rectangular shape are formed in the left side wall surface 103.

[0016] The welding work is performed manually by a worker 150 operating a welding torch 130. For example, a hollow columnar beam 110 made of a metal material is positioned on a floor surface 101 made of a metal plate, and MIG welding is performed using a welding torch 130 that uses gas as a heat source. In MIG welding, a worker 150 holds a welding torch 130 having a handle, and performs welding work while positioning a torch tip 135 (see FIG. 2 for the reference number described later) at a welding spot (groove) between the beam 110 and the floor surface 101. In a manufacturing process of a welding object 100 such as a railroad car, a workpiece such as the beam 110 is manually positioned on the welding object (floor surface), and the work is performed according to the welding work instructions in the assembly instructions. In this embodiment, instructions to the worker 150 regarding the next workpiece 100 to be welded, instructions regarding the fixing position of the workpiece 100 to be welded, and instructions regarding the welding points on the workpiece 100 are displayed as images projected using projection mapping technology.

[0017] The "projection mapping technology" is a technology that uses a projection device such as a projector 40 to project an image created by a computer onto a three-dimensional object. In the present invention, the projection target of the projector 40 is the welding target 100 such as a railway vehicle. In cases where direct projection onto the welding target 100 is not possible, for example, when the welding target is too small for the mapping area 43, the projection target may be a floor or wall surface of the work area near the welding point, which is easily visible to the worker 150 when performing the welding work. Note that the term "projection mapping" is not strictly defined in the present invention, and it is sufficient that an image or signal using visible light generated by a computer is displayed on a flat or non-flat projection site. In the case where the welding target 100 is a railway vehicle, it is preferable to use a floor, wall, ceiling, or other site of the railway vehicle as the projection site, rather than a dedicated screen.

[0018] In many projection mapping technologies, the main purpose is to display aesthetic images, but in this embodiment, it is used as a means of transmitting information from welding work support system 1, which is realized using a computer program, to worker 150. What is important in this embodiment is to enable worker 150 performing welding work to correctly recognize text information and image information at the appropriate time. It is also important to display specific locations (e.g., welding points 81, 82) displayed in the image so as to match the actual positions of actual workpiece 100.

[0019] The projector 40 is a known device, and displays an image on a display object by projecting an image on a liquid crystal screen using a light source. This device is widely available commercially as a "liquid crystal projector." Here, a mapping area 43 including a portion where the worker 150 performs welding work is set as a projection range by the projector 40. In order to display an image on a target welding portion, the projector 40 is attached at an appropriate position (here, near the center of the ceiling 104). In FIG. 1, an example of the mapping area 43 is shown by a dashed line. The mapping area 43 covers the lower area of ​​the left wall surface 103 and most of the floor surface 101. If the projector 40 is configured to be movable or multiple projectors 40 are used, the position and size of the mapping area 43 can be changed, so that an image can be projected onto any area inside the welding object 100.

[0020] It is important that the mapping area 43 of the projector 40 includes a welding work site 80 indicating the position where the welding work is performed. It is also important that the mapping area 43 and the work position of the worker 150 are close to each other or overlap each other. By setting the mapping area 43 to have such a positional relationship, it is possible to efficiently display various information to be transmitted from the welding object 100 to the worker 150 within the field of view of the worker 150 when the worker takes a working posture. In addition, since the presence of the image displayed on the welding object 100 does not hinder the welding work, the welding work can be performed with the image displayed. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the worker 150 wears a protective mask (not shown) during the welding work, so that the display control by the projector 40 can be performed to make the welding object (square beam 110) easier to see (brighten the image) even when the protective mask is worn.

[0021] The next work content is instructed in the mapping area 43. This instruction is displayed by setting a next work content display area 70 for displaying the next work content on an appropriate plane of the welding workpiece 100. Here, the next work content display area 70 is set at a position where the worker 150 in the working posture slightly raises his / her line of sight from the welding work site 80 as shown in FIG. 1. The work content displayed here includes display of the part name, identification of the welding point, explanation of the welding method, and other information. In the next work content display area 70, "next welded part" and work content 71 are displayed in text. This indicates that the next work is welding, and the position of the welded part is displayed in the display form shown below, that is, the red thick line 72. The worker can understand that the part displayed in the same form (color, thickness, etc.) as the thick line 72 (here, thick line 81) is the welding position of the next work.

[0022] In the welding work area 80, two welding points are displayed by thick lines 81 and 82. The thick line 82 indicates the welding point next to the welding point of the thick line 81. In this way, when the beam 110 fixed in the welding work area 80 has a plurality of welding points (81, 82), some or all of these welding points may be displayed together. Furthermore, auxiliary information for positioning the beam 110 is also displayed as an arrow 74. One end of the arrow 74 (the right end in this example) indicates the position of the left side surface of the beam 110, and the other end of the arrow 74 (the left end in this example) indicates the inside of the left wall surface 103, and the arrow 74 is information for determining the mounting position of the beam 110. In the example of FIG. 1, only one arrow 74 is displayed, but various types of information such as an arrow indicating the distance from the inside of the left wall surface 102, a frame line, a guide line, etc. may be displayed. A worker 150 positions the beam 110 on the workpiece 100 according to the arrow 74, temporarily fixes it, and then contacts the tip of the welding torch 130 with the groove portion projected by the thick red line 81 to perform welding.

[0023] As described above, the next work object (next welding object) is indicated by the projector 40, the welding position is specified as shown by the thick line 81, and the next welding range is displayed by the thick line 82. Here, the mapping area 43 is set to include the welding work area 80, and the thick lines 81 and 82 are displayed in a state of being aligned with each part of the actual welding object 100, so that the worker can perform the welding work by checking on the displayed screen without looking at the design drawing or the work instruction sheet outputted from paper. In this embodiment, in order to display the welding work area so as to be included within the mapping area 43, it is important that the welding object to be welded and its position can be grasped in advance by the welding work support system 1. In addition, the welding range in the welding work area 80 is displayed by a specific image (thick line 81) indicating the work area, so detailed parts data of the welding object and assembly procedure information including welding are required. These data may be used as design data of the railway vehicle 100, for example, data created using 3D-CAD.

[0024] Before welding, the welding conditions must be set appropriately. The welding conditions are, for example, a welding current, a welding voltage, and a welding speed (the moving speed of the welding torch 130). In the welding operation support system 1 of this embodiment, when the next welding point indicated by the thick line 82 is identified, the welding conditions suitable for the welding operation are automatically selected by a computer program (described later), and the welding operation area 80 is specified using the projector 40. In the example of FIG. 1, the next welding area is displayed by a thick line 81 that is colored (for example, a red line) and is displayed at the area where the tip of the welding torch 130 is actually pressed. In addition, the width of the thick lines 81 and 82 may be adjusted according to the positioning accuracy of the projection mapping. When the accuracy is low, the width of the thick lines 81 and 82 may be made thicker, and the position within the range of the thick lines 81 and 82 at which the actual welding is performed may be left to the judgment of the operator.

[0025] The welding conditions (voltage, current, etc.) for the welding machine 120 (see FIG. 3 described later) are automatically set by the welding operation support system 1. The set contents are displayed as the welding condition display screen 60 on a flat or nearly flat portion close to the welding work site 80 and convenient for projection. That is, the welding condition display screen 60 is displayed in the mapping area 43 so as to imitate a sub-screen area (window). The welding condition display screen 60 has a background of a predetermined color, and welding conditions such as the welding current, welding voltage, and welding speed are always displayed there. The worker 150 can recognize in advance the current and voltage at which the next welding will be performed by checking the welding condition display screen 60 displayed to the left of the line of sight when in a working posture. The contents displayed by the welding operation support system 1 on the welding condition display screen 60 are arbitrary, and it is possible to display various information such as characters, photos, and videos to be conveyed to the worker. For example, the welding condition display screen 60 may be configured to display a part of a manual explaining the work procedure according to the worker's level of skill.

[0026] The worker 150 welds the lower rear side of the beam 110 indicated by thick line 81 and the lower right side indicated by thick line 81. When there are multiple welding points, the welding operation support system 1 displays the welding points in different colors, for example, by displaying the next welding point in a red thick line 81 and the subsequent welding points in a gray thick line 82, so that the welding order can be correctly instructed to the worker. Note that the method of instructing the welding order is not limited to displaying by color, and other display forms may be used, such as displaying numbers or letters near the thick lines 81 and 82, or displaying arrow icons or the like in combination.

[0027] The worker presses torch tip 135 (see FIG. 2 described later) against the part to be welded, and moves welding torch 130 in a predetermined direction to perform MIG welding at one or more points. When the welding work is completed for the welding point indicated by thick line 81, a computer program (described later) records the movement trajectory of torch tip 135 and the performance data such as welding voltage and current from welding machine 120 at that time as a work history in welding work support system 1. Welding work support system 1 displays information 83 (characters, figures, etc.) indicating that the work is completed near thick line 81, and changes thick line 81 from red to light green indicating that the work has been completed normally. In addition, thick line 82, which is the next welding point, is changed from gray to red to indicate the next welding point to worker 150. When switching the display of the next welding point, a display method in which red thick line 82 flashes several times to call the worker's attention may be used. The form (shape, pattern, color, etc.) of the marking indicating the welding point may be arbitrarily determined, and may be appropriately set in accordance with the workpiece 100 to be welded.

[0028] In this embodiment, a computer program (described later) of the welding operation support system 1 detects the start and end of the welding operation, and judges whether the welding has been performed properly when the operation is finished. For this judgment, the computer program (described later) of the welding operation support system 1 uses the movement trajectory of the welding torch 130 during the welding operation, the operation status of the switch lever 132 (see FIG. 2 for the reference numerals described later), and performance data such as the welding current when the switch lever 132 is turned on. A known motion capture technique is used to accurately obtain the movement trajectory of the welding torch 130. A plurality of cameras 51, 52, etc. are arranged at a plurality of positions on the upper part of the railway vehicle 100. The cameras 51, 52 are optical input devices that capture a video including the welding torch 130, and transmit the digital image in real time to the CPU 11 described later in FIG. 3. This video is analyzed, and the coordinates of the torch tip 135 (see FIG. 2 for the symbol) are acquired in real time by regarding the welding torch 130 as a rigid body based on the positional relationship of the motion capture position transmission units 53, 54. Note that, although cameras 51, 52 are used as motion capture receivers in this embodiment, other devices may be used as long as they can achieve the same position detection function.

[0029] In FIG. 1, the cameras 51 and 52 are temporarily fixed to the upper part of the right side wall surface 102 and the upper part of the left side wall surface 103 of the railcar 100, but are removed after the welding work is completed. In order to realize the motion capture function, it is important that the positions of the cameras 51 and 52 relative to the railcar 100 can be accurately grasped by a computer program for motion capture (described later). In this embodiment, two markers 136 and 137 (see FIG. 2 for reference numerals) are provided on the welding torch 130. The number of markers 136 and 137 to be provided is arbitrary as long as it is two or more. In order to accurately align the projection mapping display with the target object, marker members may be temporarily provided at multiple locations on the railcar 100 using a sealant or the like.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a welding operation state using a welding machine 120 by a worker 150. Unlike the welding operation on the floor surface in FIG. 1, the state in which the worker 150 is performing welding operation on a side wall surface is shown here. The welding machine 120 includes a main body including a power supply device, and a cable 128 is connected to the main body. In the present invention, an example of a torch welding machine is shown, and a welding torch 130 is connected to the tip of the cable 128. The welding torch 130 includes a handle portion 131 provided with a switch lever 132, a torch body 133, and a nozzle 134 attached to the torch body 133. A welding wire is fed from the tip of the nozzle 134, which is supplied from a wire feeder (not shown). When the MIG welding method is used for the welding operation, the tip of the wire becomes a torch tip 135, which is a part that becomes hot during welding.

[0031] In the welding work, the torch tip 135 is positioned at the welding start point, and a light-shielding protective mask (not shown) is held in the left hand to cover the face, and then the nozzle 134 is moved from the welding start point toward the welding end point to perform welding. At this time, the wire is automatically supplied from the nozzle 134, and the wire touches the welding object to spark, starting the arc. After the arc starts, the switch lever 132 is turned on, and the handle part 131 is moved to move the nozzle 134 in a predetermined direction to perform continuous welding. When the welding is completed, the switch lever 132 is released to end the arc. The nozzle 134 is moved quickly and linearly when the welding object is thin, and may be moved slowly by drawing a circle with a diameter of about 5 to 10 mm with the tip of the wire when the welding object is thick. Various welding conditions such as the moving speed and moving method are displayed on the welding condition display screen 60 (see FIG. 1), so the worker 150 can check the contents immediately before starting the work. In addition, in the welding work assistance system 1 of the present invention, the type of welding is arbitrary, and it is applicable not only to the MIG welding method using the welding torch 130 but also to other welding methods in the same manner.

[0032] Two markers 136, 137 are provided on the handle portion 131 of the welding torch 130. The markers 136, 137 serve as indicators for accurately detecting the position of the torch tip 135 of the welding torch 130, and mainly detect the relative position of the torch tip 135 of the welding torch 130 with respect to the welding workpiece 100, and the direction of movement and the speed of movement. For example, a visually identifiable mark, a light source capable of optically emitting light, a reflective member that reflects light, etc. may be used as the markers 136, 137. In addition, a sensor for detecting the movement status, such as an acceleration sensor, may be further provided on the handle portion 131, and motion capture may be performed with high accuracy using sensor information.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a welding operation support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The welding operation support system 1 includes a projector 40 shown in FIG. 1, a motion capture device 50 to which cameras 51 and 52 are connected, and a personal computer (PC) 10. A commercially available high-performance product can be used for the PC 10, and the PC 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a random access memory (RAM) 15 as a primary storage device, a hard disk drive (HDD) 20 as a secondary storage device, and a communication unit 25. The CPU 11 of the PC 10 executes various programs, such as a computer program for supporting the welding operation, a computer program for acquiring images and welding machine performance data for evaluating the welding state during welding, and a computer program for evaluating the automatically acquired welding state and performance data, evaluating the penetration depth of the first layer, indirectly checking the presence or absence of unwelded material, and making a pass / fail judgment.

[0034] Information on the welding work site 80 to be worked on is acquired from 3D-CAD data 21, which is design data. The 3D-CAD data 21 is design data including information on the shape, welding specifications, etc., and work procedures, which are read from a separate design system (not shown), and the welding condition portion required for carrying out this embodiment is stored in HDD 20 as welding condition determination DB 22. CPU 11 refers to the data in welding condition determination DB 22 in HDD 20, and creates welding conditions and work instructions in welding condition calculation unit 14. These functions of welding condition calculation unit 14 are realized by a computer program. Although not shown in FIG. 3, HDD 20 stores a large number of computer programs to be executed by CPU 11, data required for executing the computer programs, and other databases.

[0035] When the welding conditions and the work instruction data are created by the welding condition calculation unit 14, they are transferred to the projection mapping calculation unit 12. The projection mapping calculation unit 12 creates information indicating the welding location (thick line 81, thick line 82, auxiliary information 74, dimension information 75, etc. in FIG. 1) and information indicating the welding conditions (welding condition display screen 60 in FIG. 1), and projects the information onto the corresponding area (mapping area 43) of the welding object (railroad car 100) using the projector 40. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a welding work instruction 61 displayed by the projector 40. In the welding work instruction 61, the welding current, voltage, welding speed, welding direction, welding pitch, tack size, welding pass, cut shape, finishing method, and other information selected by the CPU 11 are displayed on the welding condition display screen 60 shown in FIG. 1. It should be noted that the type of information to be displayed on the welding work instruction 61 is arbitrary. In this way, by using the projection mapping technique, the welding object 100 or its surrounding area can be effectively used as a screen for displaying information.

[0036] Returning to FIG. 3, the projection mapping calculation unit 12 is realized by a computer program executed by the CPU 11, and displays the indication of the welding work area so as to accurately match the actual welding location (80 in FIG. 1). In order to achieve this match, the display screen resizing function 42 of the projector 40 is controlled to correct the position, size, etc. of the display screen as a whole or in part, thereby adjusting the positions of each part of the railcar 100 and the projection mapping display, particularly the part displaying the welding work area 80 and auxiliary information 74 for positioning, so as to accurately match the parts of the railcar 100. For this adjustment, an adjustment marker may be temporarily provided inside the railcar 100, and the position of the marker and the display position of the projector 40 may be automatically adjusted by a known method.

[0037] The welding conditions obtained from the welding condition calculation unit 14 are transferred to the welding mode automatic setting unit 122 of the welding machine 120 through the welding machine communication unit 26 in the communication unit 25 by the instruction of the CPU 11, and the setting of the welding machine 120 is automatically completed. With the above configuration, the operator 150 can receive an instruction for the next welding work part 80 and an instruction for the work content (see the next work content display area 70 in FIG. 1) from the display contents in the mapping area 43. In addition, a welding condition display screen 60 is provided in the mapping area 43, and the welding conditions are displayed in detail. These can be easily viewed even when the operator is in a posture in which the operator will perform the work, so that it is sufficiently guaranteed that the operator 150 performs the work according to the instruction contents. When the welding of the thick line 81 of the welding work part 80 is performed appropriately, the CPU 11 instructs the next welding work part and updates the display of the welding condition display screen 60 (see FIG. 1), the next work display area 70 (see FIG. 1), auxiliary information (arrow 74), etc.

[0038] Data required for identifying welding points is read from 3D-CAD data 20 and quality discrimination DB 23 in HDD 20 by instructions from CPU 11, and stored in welding quality discrimination data master 16 in RAM 15. After welding work, data set 121 indicating the performance is generated by welding machine 120 and transferred to welding machine data / MC (motion capture) storage unit 17 in RAM 15 via welding machine communication unit 26. Similarly, coordinates 53 of a position transmission unit (position transmission unit 136) of motion capture 50 and coordinates 54 of a position transmission unit (position transmission unit 137) are transferred to welding machine data / MC storage unit 17 in RAM 25 via motion capture communication unit 27.

[0039] When the setting data from welding machine 120 and the coordinate information acquired by motion capture 50 are stored in RAM 15, CPU 11 transfers quality judgment DB (database) 23 to welding quality discrimination data master 16 in RAM 15, and judges the welding result in welding quality prediction calculation unit 13 together with information transmitted from welding machine data / MC storage unit 17. This judgment includes any content that CPU 11 can automatically judge regarding quality, such as whether the welded portion is missing, whether the weld length is sufficient, whether the workmanship such as the shape of the weld bead is acceptable, etc. An example of the method of judging the welding result will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0040] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a welded state of an object to be welded (floor surface 101) and a welded part (a beam 110). In a working environment in which a worker 150 performs welding work while moving on the floor surface 101 of the object to be welded 100, welding is performed in various shapes, plate thicknesses, and grooves. Here, a beam 110 is placed at a specified position on the floor surface 101, and a torch tip 135 is brought close in the direction of an arrow 111 to contact both the floor surface 101 and the beam 110, thereby forming a bead 112. FIG. 5 shows a vertical cross-sectional shape of a welded part after welding. The welded part of the bead 112 and the beam 110 is called a weld depth 113, and the welded part of the bead 112 and the floor surface 101 is called a penetration depth 115. If the weld depth 113 and the penetration depth 115 of the welded part are smaller than the specified size, there is a risk that sufficient weld strength cannot be ensured. In the present invention, the welding operation support system 1 determines, without ultrasonic inspection, whether the portion that cannot be directly seen by the worker 150, particularly the hidden penetration depth 115 behind the bead 112, is sufficient relative to the standard of the unwelded length 114. In other words, when the welding torch 130 moves during welding, the CPU 11 automatically determines the completion of appropriate welding of the work target portion from the data set of welding results and the bead shape such as the penetration depth using an AI model, thereby evaluating the bead shape including the unwelded length behind the weld for each welding.

[0041] Returning to FIG. 3, when the welding quality of the welded portion is judged to be "good" by the judgment of the welding result, the projection mapping calculation unit 12 of the CPU 11 changes the color of the thick line display indicating the welding work portion 80 in the mapping area 43 (see FIG. 1) by the projector 40 to a color indicating "work completed" and displays it, so that the worker 150 can determine the end of the work. Here, the thick line 81 in the welding work portion 80 is changed from the red color before the work to green indicating that the work has been completed normally, and text information saying "Done" is displayed near it as shown by the arrow 83 in FIG. 1. In addition, the information indicating that the welding of the thick line 81 portion has been completed and the acquired data of the welding work performed on the completed welded portion (the detection value by the motion capture 50, the setting values ​​of the welding time, heat amount, motor current, number of welding points, wire consumption, etc. acquired from the welding machine 120) are recorded in the work record DB (not shown) of the HDD 20.

[0042] When the welding quality prediction calculation unit 13 judges the welding result to be "inappropriate", the projection mapping calculation unit 12 of the CPU 11 displays a warning indicating that the welding result is "inappropriate" at an arbitrary position in the mapping area 43 by the projector 40, and a countermeasure for correcting the welding of the welding part. The area in which the warning and the countermeasure are displayed is arbitrary, but here, it is preferable to display an alarm character such as "Welding Poor!" in a large flashing red display or an icon indicating an alarm occurrence in the display area of ​​the dimension portion indicated by the arrow 75 in FIG. 1, which is immediately in front of the line of sight of the worker 150. In addition, a notification sound when the work is completed normally and a notification sound when the work is completed inappropriately may be prepared and displayed in the mapping area 43, and a warning sound may be issued.

[0043] After the welding defect is notified, it is preferable to display correction instructions and supplementary explanatory information in the welding condition display screen 60 shown in FIG. 1. It is also preferable to display information such as a thick line indicating the rewelding location and other characters, figures, images, etc. to the worker 150. At this time, a video display area may be set in the mapping area 43 at the request of the worker 150, and a video manual showing the procedure for correcting the welding defect may be displayed in that area. Completion of the rewelding work may be configured so that the worker inputs the fact that the work has been completed from an input device (not shown). Even during the rewelding work, the detection value by the motion capture 50 and the work data of the welder 120 can be obtained, so that the CPU 11 records the details of the rewelding work in a work record DB (not shown) in the HDD 20.

[0044] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of work correction instructions 62 displayed on projector 40 shown in Fig. 3. The screen of work correction instructions 62 is displayed, for example, within welding condition display screen 60, by switching from welding work instructions 61 in Fig. 4. Here, an event 63 that occurred during welding work and a countermeasure 64 for the event are displayed.

[0045] As described above, welding operation support system 1 supports welding of a specific welding location, and automatically (or semi-automatically) checks the quality after welding is completed. When the support for welding and the quality check for one location are completed, CPU 11 reads out information on the next welding target from 3D-CAD data 21, and repeats the above-mentioned procedure for the next welding location.

[0046] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the welding operation support system 1 according to the present embodiment. In each of these procedures, the CPU 11 executes a computer program for achieving the function of each unit. First, the CPU 11 acquires information on the workpiece 100 from the 3D-CAD data 21, and selects parts to be welded based on the information on the shape, welding specifications, etc., and on the basis of the installation order rule (step 201). Specifically, according to the installation order rule of the 3D-CAD data 21, the installation part (beam 110) is extracted by search, and selected as the welding object to be displayed in the welding operation area 80. Next, the CPU 11 transfers the welding conditions and the operation instruction data to the projection mapping calculation unit 12, and displays the installation position of the part (beam 110) on the workpiece (workpiece 100) using the projector 40 (step 202).

[0047] The projector 40 uses the display screen resizing function 42 to control the display contents of the projector data and adjust the positions of each part near the welding work site 80 in the railcar 100 to accurately match the display position of the mapping. This adjustment for alignment needs to be performed only once after the work (welding object 100) is moved to the welding work site and set up, and the projector 40 and the cameras 51 and 52 are positioned so as not to move relative to the work (welding object 100). However, adjustment for alignment may be performed every time the welding work site 80 moves. The alignment between the display position by the projector 40 and each part of the actual work is handled by setting markers at multiple points on the work (welding object 100) and adjusting the size of the display screen side to accommodate the deviation between the marker position and the display position. The markers provided on the work (welding object 100) are known members such as light emitting means and reflective members, and the markers may be removed after the alignment is completed.

[0048] Next, CPU 11 searches for welds linked to the attachment parts using welding condition determination DB 23 and selects the welds based on the welding sequence rules (step 203). At the same time, welding condition calculation unit 14 obtains information such as plate thickness, groove, and welding grade from the selected welds and creates a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) including welding conditions and work instructions (step 204).

[0049] Next, CPU 11 displays the WPS and related work instructions obtained from welding condition calculation unit 14 by projection mapping (step 205), transfers them to welding mode automatic setting unit 122 via welding machine communication unit 26, and automatically completes the setting of welding machine 120 (step 206). The worker performs welding at the instructed location displayed by projection mapping (step 207). After the welding work, data set 121 of the welding machine performance is generated by welding machine 120 and transferred to welding machine data / MC storage unit 17 in RAM 15 via welding machine communication unit 26 (step 208). Similarly, coordinate information of position transmission unit 53 and position transmission unit 54 obtained by motion capture 50 is transferred to welding machine data / MC storage unit 17 in RAM 15 through motion capture communication unit 27. Next, CPU 11 acquires welding information and shape information from 3D-CAD data 20, and judges the quality of the welding, including the back side portion that cannot be seen with the naked eye after welding, from the values ​​of the welding information and data such as the welding machine performance, using a prediction formula for welding quality based on experience. Next, CPU 11 transfers quality judgment DB 23 to welding quality judgment data master 16 in RAM 15, and judges the quality of the welding in welding quality prediction calculation unit 13 of CPU 11 together with data from welding machine data / MC storage unit 17 (step 209).

[0050] If the welding quality prediction calculation unit 13 judges that the welding result is "good", it transmits the result to the projection mapping calculation unit 12, and the projection mapping calculation unit 12 selects the next welding part and returns to step 204 to display the welding part as the next welding part on the projection data display unit 41. On the other hand, if the welding quality prediction calculation unit 13 judges that the welding result is "bad", it displays the result on the projector 40. The projection mapping calculation unit 12 displays, on the projection data display unit 41, a countermeasure to be displayed when an error is judged, such as the work correction instruction 62 shown in FIG. 6. According to the above procedure, it is judged whether the welding work associated with all the welding parts and welding parts has been completed, and if not completed, it returns to step 201 (step 210), and if completed, it ends the work (step 211).

[0051] As described above, the welding operation support system 1 according to the present embodiment makes it easy to check the welding points, check the drawing dimensions, and check the work instructions, and the system also appropriately instructs the work procedure, and the welding mode of the welding machine 120 is automatically set. Therefore, the setup time for manual welding work is significantly reduced. In addition, during welding work, information on the welding points, etc. can be appropriately provided, and instructions for improvements to be made during the work can be appropriately provided. Furthermore, the current, voltage, length of the wire used, etc. during welding are monitored via the welding machine 120, and the welding position by the welding torch 130 is accurately identified, so that the welding quality can be estimated with high accuracy by combining the actual data on the operating status of the welding machine 120. Furthermore, after the welding work, it is possible to feed back the evaluation of the welding status to the worker, making it possible to prevent the existence of areas of reduced quality due to operational mistakes, etc.

[0052] Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1 Welding work support system 10PCS 11 CPU 12 Projection mapping calculation section 13 Weld quality prediction calculation section 14 Welding condition calculation section 15 RAM 16 Welding quality judgment data master 17 Welding data / MC memory section 20 HDD 21 3D CAD data 22 Welding condition determination DB 23 Quality Judgment DB 25 Communication Unit 26 Welding Machine Communication Unit 27 Motion Capture Communication Unit 40 Projector 41 Projection data display section 42 Display screen resizing function 43 Mapping Area 50 Motion Capture 51, 52 Camera 53, 54 Position transmitting unit 60 Welding condition display screen 61 Welding machine performance data set 62 Automatic welding mode setting section 70 Next work display area 74 Supporting Information 75 Dimensional Information 80 Welding work area 81, 82 Thick lines indicating welding points 84 Completion Information 100 Welding object (railroad vehicle) 101 Floor 102 Right side wall 103 Left wall 104 Ceiling 105, 106 Windows 110 Welding material (square timber) 111 Torch approach direction 112 Bead 113 Weld Depth 115 Penetration Depth 120 Welding Machine 121 Datasets 122 Welding mode automatic setting section 128 Cable 130 Welding Torch 131 Handle 132 Switch lever 133 Torch Body 134 Nozzle 135 Torch tip 136, 137 Position transmitting unit 150 workers

Claims

1. A welding operation support system having a processor unit that sequentially indicates manual welding operation positions on an object to be welded, and a projector that displays information indicated by the processor unit on the object to be welded, the welding operation support system supporting manual welding operation on the object to be welded using a welding machine, providing a storage unit for storing 3D-CAD data having work information; a welding condition calculation unit that specifies a welding position and welding conditions for a next welding operation portion for the workpiece using the 3D-CAD data stored in the storage unit; a projection mapping calculation unit that displays the specified welding position in a state where the specified welding position is aligned on the object to be welded in an image displayed by the projector; a communication unit for communicating with the welding machine; The welding condition calculation unit displays the specified welding conditions together with the welding position in the same image displayed by the projector, and transmits the specified welding conditions to the welding machine via the communication unit, thereby automatically setting the welding mode of the welding machine.

2. a welding quality prediction calculation unit that determines whether the welding work is completed based on an operating status of the welding machine and position information of a welding torch operated by an operator; The welding operation support system according to claim 1, characterized in that when the welding quality prediction calculation unit determines that the welding operation is completed, the welding result is displayed on the projector and the next welding operation location is selected from 3D-CAD data.

3. A marker for detecting a position is attached to the welding torch; a motion capture unit that acquires a movement trajectory of the welding torch using the marker; The welding operation support system according to claim 2, characterized in that the welding quality prediction calculation unit acquires the movement trajectory acquired by the motion capture unit and actual data of the current and voltage values ​​supplied to the welding torch, and judges whether the welding quality is acceptable or not based on shape information in the 3D-CAD data.

4. a display area of ​​the projector is set to include a part or an entirety of the welding object, 3. The welding operation support system according to claim 2, wherein details of a welding mode set in the welding machine are displayed as the welding conditions.

5. A welding support method for a welding operation support system having a storage unit for storing 3D-CAD data having operation information, a processor unit for creating welding operation instructions for a welding object using the 3D-CAD data, and a projector for displaying an image by mapping each portion of the welding object, the welding operation instructions created by the processor unit being included in the image and displayed to support manual welding of the welding object using a welding machine, comprising: A marker for detecting a position is provided on the welding torch held by the worker, and a capture device is provided to detect the position and movement of the marker; The processor unit includes: (a) displaying the designation of the next welding target of the welding target and the content of the welding work by the projection mapping; (b) setting a welding mode for the welding machine according to welding conditions included in the 3D-CAD data by communicating with the welding machine; (c) when the worker starts welding, detecting a welding area during welding by the capture device and acquiring welding data during welding from the welding machine through communication; (d) when the welding work by the worker is completed, determining the welding quality based on the acquired welding area and the welding data; (e) if the result is good, repeat steps (a) to (d) for the next welding object; (f) when the welding work is judged to be inappropriate, instructing a correction of the welding work by the projection mapping; A welding operation support method in a welding operation support system.

6. 6. The welding operation supporting method according to claim 5, wherein a display area by the projector is set to a range on the workpiece and including a position of the workpiece.

7. 7. The welding operation support method according to claim 6, further comprising providing an input means for acquiring a trajectory of the marker at a position where the marker of the welding torch operated by the worker can be photographed.

8. The welding operation support method according to claim 7, characterized in that the 3D CAD data includes information on parts to be used, an assembly procedure for the parts, and information on welding locations during assembly, and the processor unit specifies the step (a) in accordance with the assembly procedure for the parts.

9. 9. The welding operation support method according to claim 8, wherein the processor unit sets a welding condition display screen in the vicinity of the welding point in order to display the contents of the welding operation in step (a), and displays details of the welding operation within the welding condition display screen.

10. The welding operation support method according to claim 9, characterized in that the processor unit judges the welding quality in step (d) based on actual operation data of the welding machine, movement and operation data of the worker, and shape information in the 3D CAD data.

11. The welding operation support method according to claim 10, characterized in that the processor unit stores in advance in a memory unit a correction work content manual to be displayed when the welding operation is judged to be inappropriate, and when issuing an instruction to correct the welding operation in step (f), a corresponding portion of the correction work content manual is displayed.

12. 12. The welding operation support method according to claim 11, wherein, when the designation of the next welding object displayed in step (a) involves the installation of a part on the welding object, the processor unit displays the name of the part to be installed and instruction information for the installation position.

13. 12. The welding operation support method according to claim 11, wherein the processor unit records the quality information determined in step (d) and performance data of the welding operation by storing them in the storage device.

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