Welding Tool Orientation Feedback With Fast Self-Calibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional welding technique monitoring systems face challenges in accurately assessing and providing feedback on welding technique quality, particularly for less experienced operators, as they struggle to determine good or bad technique effectively.
Innovation Solution
A tool-based welding technique monitoring system that uses a sensor module attached to the welding tool to track its orientation and provide real-time feedback on parameters like work angle, travel angle, travel direction, and speed, with minimal calibration requirements, allowing for portable and inexpensive operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional welding technique monitoring systems are used, then welding technique quality can be assessed, but the systems are complex and require extensive calibration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential monitoring function from complex conventional systems by attaching a simplified sensor module directly to the welding tool. This module contains only the necessary sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer) to track tool orientation and movement, eliminating the need for complex external calibration systems while maintaining adequate measurement precision for technique assessment
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-calibration by using the welding tool itself as the reference frame. The sensor module attached to the tool automatically establishes its own coordinate system during welding operations, eliminating the need for external calibration equipment or procedures. The tool's own movement and orientation data serve as the calibration reference
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive calibration is performed to improve measurement accuracy, then welding technique parameters are more precise, but the calibration process takes more time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calibration actions automatically during the first welding operation after setup. The sensor module captures tool orientation and movement data during initial welding, using this data to establish baseline calibration parameters without requiring separate calibration procedures. This preliminary calibration occurs naturally as part of the welding process itself
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial calibration by focusing only on the essential parameters needed for technique monitoring (tool orientation and movement) rather than calibrating all possible welding parameters. This selective approach provides sufficient accuracy for technique assessment while minimizing calibration time and complexity
3Loss of information
If a sensor module is attached to the welding tool to track orientation, then real-time feedback is provided, but the system becomes less portable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sensor module with the welding tool by attaching it directly to the tool handle or body. This integration allows the sensors to naturally track tool orientation and movement during welding operations. The module is designed to be compact and lightweight, combining multiple sensing functions (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer) into a single integrated unit that moves with the tool
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor module serves multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks tool orientation, measures movement speed, determines welding position, and provides real-time feedback. This multi-functionality is achieved through a single integrated module that processes various sensor data streams to provide comprehensive technique monitoring without requiring separate devices for each measurement
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively tracks the welding tool's orientation and provides valuable feedback with minimal calibration, enhancing welding quality by offering immediate and accurate assessments of welding technique parameters, even in situations where full calibration is not performed.
Implementation Method 1
determining, via processing circuitry, a first joint characteristic vector and a second joint characteristic vector based on a joint orientation and first sensor data detected during a first time duration by a sensor system attached to, or integrated with, a welding-type tool
Implementation Method 2
tracking, in real time during a welding-type operation, via the processing circuitry, a tool orientation of the welding-type tool using second sensor data detected by the sensor system
Data Source
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AI summary
Described herein are examples of tool based welding technique monitoring systems that provide an inexpensive, intuitive, and relatively robust way of tracking an orientation of a welding-type tool, and providing welding technique feedback based on the orientation. The system requires no sensors apart from a simple and/or relatively inexpensive sensor module that can travel with the welding-type tool, which makes the system highly portable. The system can also provide some feedback with minimal calibration, which can be valuable in situations where an operator forgets, or is unwilling, to take the time to fully calibrate the system. Additionally, full calibration of the system can be accomplished with a fast, simple, intuitive calibration technique.