All's Weld that Ends Weld

Project team member(s): Kilas Gallimore, Victoria Porto, Carol Carvolho, Alaz Cig

Traditional welding training demands supervision, safety infrastructure, and material consumption, all of which limit how often trainees can practice and drive up costs. The Phantom Torch addresses this by using a haptic pantograph with a welding torch handle on the end to simulate the physical experience of welding — replicating torch dynamics and material interaction forces without any real heat or flame. Vibration feedback simulates torch feel and blow-through events, while kinesthetic force feedback through the pantograph guides users toward correct motion and technique. The result is a hands-on training tool that lets people build genuine muscle memory and torch feel before ever touching live equipment.

Introduction

Explain the motivation for your project in terms of the educational objectives and why your haptic device is an appropriate approach.

Background

Explain the relevant prior work in the field of haptics and provide references. These will likely be different from the references in your project proposal. Make sure to do a thorough literature search on relevant haptic devices/application.

Methods

Provide a detailed description of your project, such that another student from the class could generally re-create your project/experiment from the report if necessary. (You don't need to document every screw, but the design should be clear.) Add images and videos as needed to support the description. You can refer to downloadable drawings and code in the "Files" section (later). You should divide this section into subsections, which can vary depending on your particular project. Here is an example set of subsections:

Hardware Design and Implementation

System Analysis and Control

Demonstration / Application

Results

Describe the results, which may include qualitative responses from users at the open house.

Future Work

Describe how your system could be tested (e.g., through experiments if you have not already done so), how it can be improved, and how it might be applied.

Acknowledgments

Here you can list any individuals or groups who helped you with your project. (e.g., another student in the class, a course assistant, or an especially helpful PRL TA). Optional, so delete this section if you aren't using it.

Files

Code and drawings should be linked here. You should be able to upload these using the Attach command. If you aren't willing to share these data on a public site, please discuss with the instructor. Also, in this section include a link to a file with a list of major components and their approximate costs.

References

List the referenced literature, websites, etc. here.

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Appendix: Project Checkpoints

Checkpoint 1

For our first project check-off, we set off to have a good understanding / sketches of our design. This goal was met by us discussing design concepts and eventually choosing one that we all liked and thought would be feasible within the project scope. Our sketches are show below.

Attach:Sketches .pdf

Four our second goal, we wanted a robust list of components to procure. This goal was met by creating a BOM for our project.

Attach:ME 327 Component List.pdf

Lastly, we wanted to schedule out mini checkoff for ourselves to ensure we are staying on track. This goal was met , and we have outlined our project timeline below.

Attach:Project Timeline.pdf

Checkpoint 2

Here you will write a few paragraphs about what you accomplished in the project so far. Include the checkpoint goals and describe which goals were met (and how), which were not (what were the challenges?), and any change of plans for the project based on what you learned. Include images and/or drawings where appropriate.

Example Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_aLBql4Ufo