Using the newly available Welducation Simulator from
Fronius, welders can learn, train, and consolidate their welding skills step-by-step under realistic conditions without any risk to safety and with no additional costs for materials, gases, or wear parts. Fronius says: “The new augmented reality glasses make the weld, the welding process, and hence the entire welding experience astonishingly realistic, while our Welducation Campus rounds off the entire training package by teaching the theoretical aspects of welding.
“The shortage of skilled workers is an ever-present issue, but the excellent welder training and the high degree of user friendliness of all our welding solutions are two ways in which Fronius is addressing this challenge. Virtual training with the new Welducation Simulator simulates complex processes and tricky situations in a risk-free and cost-effective way, while offering the ability to repeat them time and again without wasting resources — and beginners can learn directly from their mistakes, thereby preparing them for welding on a real seam.”
With the latest welding simulator, Fronius is not only focusing on virtual reality (VR) but also on augmented reality (AR). The company has also adopted extended reality, a technique that is characterised by ‘the insertion of digital elements into the real world — be it on a screen or on a pair of glasses — directly in front of the viewer’s eyes’. By employing AR technology and using original welding torches, hosepacks, and the housing of a real Fronius welding system, a ‘genuine welding experience is created’.
Trainees can use the Welducation Simulator to practice the three processes of manual arc welding, MIG/MAG, and TIG); and they can do this while using various materials (steel, stainless steel, and aluminium), material thicknesses, and welding positions in the welding simulation.
Fronius added: “Common practice workpieces and adjustable welding parameters complete the realistic conditions, because the training is not only about achieving the perfect weld: as with a welding challenge in the real world, it is also necessary to complete tasks before, between, and after joining. This includes such activities as installing the return lead cable, setting the correct welding parameters, and retrofitting the electrode. The tablet with the simulator shows the standard interface of a Fronius welding system so that participants can become familiar with using real welding systems.”