Tele-Welding Control Using 3D Mapping for Remote Hazardous Work
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Solution Overview
Problem
The welding industry faces challenges such as a shortage of skilled welders, hazardous work conditions, and inaccessible manufacturing facilities, making it difficult to retain experienced welders due to physical limitations and age-related obstacles.
Innovation Solution
A remote manufacturing system, known as tele-welding, which allows qualified welders to control welding equipment from a distant location using a hand-held stylus or similar device, converting motion inputs into real-time commands for machinery with varying degrees of freedom, enabling precise control of welding processes regardless of physical presence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If welding equipment is positioned in compact, weight-optimized facilities, then manufacturing efficiency and portability are improved, but human accessibility to the equipment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct mechanical human operation of welding equipment with a teleoperated control system. Operators use hand-held stylus devices to control welding robots remotely through digital signals, eliminating the need for physical presence in compact facilities while maintaining full operational capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a teleoperation system as an intermediary between the operator and the welding equipment. The hand-held stylus device acts as a mediator that translates operator intent into precise robotic movements, allowing indirect control without physical contact with the equipment in inaccessible locations.
2Productivity
If welders work in hazardous hot work environments, then production output is improved, but worker safety and health deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the human operator from the hazardous welding environment by enabling remote teleoperation. The operator controls welding equipment from a safe location, completely removing exposure to hot work hazards such as heat, sparks, and fumes while maintaining production capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The teleoperation system allows the welding process to serve itself through automated robotic execution of welding tasks. The robot performs the hazardous welding operations autonomously based on operator guidance, eliminating the need for human presence in dangerous conditions.
3Ease of operation
If manual control interfaces are simplified for ease of use, then operator accessibility is improved, but control precision over complex machinery deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hand-held stylus device serves as an intelligent intermediary that simplifies the control interface while maintaining precision through software algorithms. The stylus translates simple user gestures into complex coordinated movements of multiple robotic degrees of freedom, bridging the gap between simple input and precise output.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameters from complex multi-axis robotic coordinates to simple stylus movements in three-dimensional space. The software performs real-time mathematical transformation of the stylus input coordinates into appropriate robotic joint commands, maintaining precision while simplifying the interface.
Data Source
AI summary
A tele-manufacturing system comprising a manufacturing environment containing equipment used for a manufacturing process; a plurality of sensors positioned within the manufacturing environment in proximity to the manufacturing equipment, wherein each sensor is configured to gather data from the manufacturing environment; at least one digitizer in communication with the sensors for receiving data from sensors and converting the data into one or more three-dimensional digital maps or point clouds; at least one processor in communication with the at least one digitizer, wherein the processor includes software for receiving and analyzing the digital maps or point clouds; and at least one manual controller in communication with the processor, wherein the manual controller receives motion input from a user, wherein the software on the processor mathematically transforms the motion input into corresponding motion commands that are sent to the manufacturing equipment by the processor, and wherein the manufacturing equipment, which is physically remote from the at least one controller, executes the motion commands in real-time during the manufacturing process.