Stereoscopic helmet display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016125653-A1
Application number	US-201414532734-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 4, 2014
Priority date	Nov 4, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A welding-type system includes a helmet having a first image capture device configured to capture a first set of images of a work area from a first perspective and a second image capture device configured to capture a second set of images of the work area from a second perspective. The helmet also includes an electronic display configured to display the first and second sets of images substantially simultaneously to cause a stereoscopic appearance of the work area via the electronic display. Moreover, the helmet includes an audible command translation unit configured to receive audible commands configured to adjust operation of a power supply configured to supply power for the welding-type system. Furthermore, the welding-type system includes a processing system communicatively coupled to the audible command translation unit and configured to adjust at least one parameter of the power supply based at least in part on the received audible commands.

First claim

1 . A welding-type system, comprising:
a helmet comprising:
a first image capture device configured to capture a first set of images of a work area from a first perspective;
a second image capture device configured to capture a second set of images of the work area from a second perspective;
an electronic display configured to display the first and second sets of images substantially simultaneously to cause a stereoscopic appearance of the work area via the electronic display; and
an audible command translation unit configured to receive audible commands configured to adjust operation of a power supply configured to supply power for the welding-type system; and
a processing system communicatively coupled to the audible command translation unit and configured to adjust at least one parameter of the power supply based at least in part on the received audible commands.

2 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the helmet comprises an inertial measurement unit configured to detect movement of the helmet, and the processing system is configured to adjust at least one parameter of the power supply based at least in part on the detected movement of the helmet.

3 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , comprising a welding-type tool communicatively coupled to the power supply, wherein the welding-type tool comprises an inertial measurement unit configured to detect movement of the welding-type tool, wherein the processing system is configured to adjust one or more parameters of the power supply based at least in part on the movement of the welding-type tool.

4 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , comprising a wearable device comprising an inertial measurement unit configured to detect movement of the wearable device, wherein the processing system is configured to adjust one or more parameters of the power supply based at least in part on the detected movement of the wearable device.

5 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic display is configured to display a representation of the power supply and to display the at least one parameter of the power supply

6 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter comprises a current level of the power supply, a voltage level of the power supply, or a type of a welding-type process powered by the power supply.

7 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein displaying the first and second sets of images substantially simultaneously comprises alternating between the first and second sets of images at a rate faster than noticeable by an operator's eyes.

8 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the processing system comprises power supply control circuitry.

9 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , comprising a transceiver configured to transmit information indicative of the audible commands to the power supply or a transmitter configured to transmit information indicative of the audible commands to the power supply.

10 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic display comprises a transparent light emitting diode display, a transparent liquid crystal displays, or a transparent organic light emitting diode display.

11 . The welding-type system of claim 1 , wherein the first image capture device comprises a camera configured to capture images of the first perspective of the work area, wherein the first perspective is approximately a perspective that would be viewed by a right eye of a user wearing the helmet.

12 . The welding-type system of claim 11 , wherein the second image capture device comprises a camera configured to capture images of the second perspective of the work area, wherein the second perspective is approximately a perspective that would be viewed by a left eye of a user wearing the helmet.

13 . A method comprising:
capturing a first image via a first image capture device of a helmet, wherein the first image has a first perspective of a work area; capturing a second image via a second image capture device of the helmet, wherein the second image has a second perspective of the work area; displaying the first and second images substantially simultaneously as a stereoscopic image of the work area; receiving an audible command via an audible command unit of the helmet; and adjusting a parameter of a welding-type power supply, at the welding-type power supply, based at least in part on the received audible command.

14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising displaying a representation of the welding-type power supply including one or more parameters of the welding-type power supply on an electronic display of the helmet;

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the representation comprises an image of the welding-type power supply, a simplified representation of the welding-type power supply, or a heads up display representation.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein displaying the first and second images comprises displaying the first image on a first electronic display configured to display images to a right portion of the helmet.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein displaying the first and second image comprises displaying the second image on a second electronic display configured to display images to a left portion of the helmet.

18 . A welding-type system, comprising:
a helmet comprising:
a first image capture device configured to capture a first image of a work area from a first perspective;
a second image capture device configured to capture a second image of the work area from a second perspective;
a first electronic display configured to display the first image to a first portion of the helmet;
a second electronic display configure to display the second image to a second portion of the helmet substantially simultaneously to the display of the first image; and
an audible command translation unit configured to receive audible commands configured to adjust operation of a power supply configured to supply power for the welding-type system; and
a processing system communicatively coupled to audible command translation unit and configured to adjust at least one parameter of the power supply based at least in part on the received audible commands.

19 . The welding-type systems of claim 18 , wherein the electronic display is configured to display an autostereogram image at a video update rate, wherein the autostereogram image is an image post processed from the two cameras such that each video frame depicts a virtual 3D image rendered in small pixels to enable a viewer to view the virtual 3D image using defocused eyes.

20 . The welding-type system of claim 19 , wherein the energy harvesting device comprises a solar cell using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to enhance power generation.

Assignees

• Illinois Tool Works

Inventors

• Denis Marc Lee

Classifications

• H04N23/65

  Control of camera operation in relation to power supply · CPC title

• H04N23/633

  for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera · CPC title

• H04N23/90

  Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums · CPC title

• B23K9/322 Primary

  Head protecting means · CPC title

• H04N5/247

  Electricity · mapped topic