Design and Implementation of Electrode Holder and Electrode Consumption System for Educational Welding Simulator for SMAW

Shielded metal arc welding is one of the common welding operations in various industries. SMAW requires a lot of training. And for new trainees, sparks, high voltage and temperature could impose a potential risk. Moreover, welding training drains a lot of financial resources. The introduction of welding simulators in the initial training phases solves this problem. It provides safe environment and simulates the welding environment. Thus, electrode consumption simulation is required to mimic the real welding environment. Furthermore, simulating electrode consumption with a physical system obviate the need for real electrode. For evaluating the trainee skills, the welding parameters such as holder orientations, arc length and travel speed are measured. These parameters are then used for trainees’ assessment as they affect the welding quality. The proposed solution uses stepper motor, rack and pinion to simulate electrode consumption. The orientation of the electrode holder and the travel speed is tracked by an inertia measurement unit. An extended Kalman filter is designed for orientation estimation. The arc length is measured using time of flight sensor. Two filtration methods for time-of-flight sensor are implemented and compared. The accuracy of orientation and arc length measurements is found to be reliable and suitable for the system.