TEREBES: Welding Helmet with AR capabilities

An Augmented Reality (AR) system integrated in a new developed welding helmet improves the conditions for manual welding. The scene is acquired by a stereoscopic High Dynamic Range CMOS (HDRC) camera system that allows the observance of the welding arc and the environment simultaneously. By image processing, the scene will be enhanced and displayed on a video see through Head Mounted Display (HMD). Besides the better view on the welding scene, the welder can operate an “onscreen” remote control of the welding machine to change machine parameters without lifting the helmet or changing the working position. During the welding process, the inclusion of additional on-line process data provides more information about the quality of the seam and erroneous states like sputter or suboptimal welding torch inclination. Electrical data and synchronized acquired images are recorded on-line and may be used for off-line documentation and quality inspection. With this AR helmet the welder will be able to produce seams of higher quality and the inspection cost will decrease. The article presents the development and research of the second prototype helmet in detail.