Development of a 3D Virtual Welding Simulator Using Weld Bead Created by Voxelization Technique

Abstract

In this study, we developed and implemented a cost-reducing, real-time virtual welding simulator to train welder candidates. In order to make a real-time welding simulation, a three-dimensional weld bead form was designed. We used a parabola as the basic bead slice shape, considering the similarity between the parabola and the bead slice. During the welding process, the parameters of the weld bead shape are calculated at each time step using an artificial neural network. This network determines the shape of the weld bead and the depth of penetration, based on inputs received from the sensor device that tracks the motions of the torch. After the parabola’s parameters have been determined, the voxel map and corresponding hash-based octree data structure are generated in real-time. By using the voxelized data, a weld bead isosurface consisting of triangles is reconstructed with a marching cubes algorithm allowing us to generate more realistic weld seam shapes. We used multi-threaded programming for voxelization and isosurface extraction to reduce the computation cost on high-resolution virtual scenes. The isosurface extraction times for different thread counts and also a feature comparison with other simulators in the literature are shown in this paper.

Keywords

• welding simulator
• virtual reality
• weld bead
• weld seam
• voxel

Vokselleştirme Tekniği ile Oluşturulan Kaynak Dolgusunu Kullanan 3B Bir Sanal Kaynak Simülatörü Geliştirilmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, kaynakçı adaylarının eğitiminde kullanılmak üzere gerçek zamanlı ve maliyeti düşük bir sanal kaynak simülatörü tasarlanıp geliştirilmiştir. Gerçek zamanlı bir kaynak simülasyonu yapmak için öncelikle üç boyutlu bir kaynak dikiş formu tasarlanmıştır. Parabol ve kaynak dikişi arasındaki benzerlik göz önünde bulundurularak temel kaynak dikişi formu olarak parabol kullanılmıştır. Kaynak işlemi sırasında, yapay sinir ağı kullanılarak her zaman adımında kaynak dikişi şeklinin parametreleri hesaplanır. Bu ağ, torcun hareketini izleyen sensör cihazından alınan girdilere dayalı olarak kaynak dikişinin şeklini ve derinliğini belirler. Parabolün parametreleri belirlendikten sonra, gerçek zamanlı olarak voksel haritası ve karşılık gelen sekizli-ağaç veri yapısı oluşturulur. Vokselleştirilmiş veriler kullanılarak üçgenlerden oluşan kaynak dikişi eş-yüzeyi, daha gerçekçi kaynak dikişi şekilleri oluşturmamızı sağlayan yürüyen küp algoritması ile yeniden yapılandırılmıştır. Yüksek çözünürlüklü sanal sahnelerde hesaplama ve işlem maliyetini düşürmek amacıyla vokselizasyon ve eş-yüzey çıkarma işlemleri için çok iş parçacıklı programlama tekniği kullanılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, farklı iş parçacıkları için eş-yüzey çıkarma süreleri gösterilmiş olup geliştirilen simülatörün literatürdeki diğer simülatörlerle karşılaştırması da sunulmuştur.

Keywords

• kaynak simülatörü
• sanal gerçeklik
• kaynak dolgusu
• kaynak dikişi
• voksel.

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