Tig welding tips, questions, equipment, applications, instructions, techniques, tig welding machines, troubleshooting tig welding process
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The version I had designed in my mind was going to be called, "Ya gotta hold your mouth right..."

Or perhaps that would have been the slogan... :D

We have members here who are "differently-abled" and could certainly benefit from alternative methods to control the machine. That, as I'm sure you noticed, sparked this topic (and a few others based on mobility and access issues).

Steve S
UglyBlobs
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Here is an example of a Sip and Puff headset used to control a laser welder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8oCrMkaELI
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Thanks
Not all of us are up to date on what’s available
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and more stuff than I deserve(Thanks Significant Other)
UglyBlobs
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Well, my project might start moving again.

I kinda stalled out when I decided the mouth-operated Amptrol had to be wireless to protect the operator from the possibility of electrical shock.

I have a Lincoln 175 Square Wave Tig (6-pin pedal input) and have been searching for a Lincoln or Linemaster wireless pedal. The Lincoln wireless pedal runs $550+ and the Linemaster is $395 (but not guaranteed compatible with the 175).

Some guys over at WeldingWeb have been working on a DIY wireless pedal, and I was hoping it might provide a low-cost alternative to the commercial pedals. As of now, it is still a work in progress.

In the interim, I have searched eBay auctions, CL and other sites hoping to find something affordable. Last week, an eBay auction popped up for a Prototype Lincoln Wireless Pedal. Starting bid $30.00! I watched it closely and won ($132.50). Hopefully, this will give me a reliable platform to experiment with.

A guy named Jason Webb started an open-source sip/puff project that looks promising:

https://hackaday.io/project/12959-opensippuff

Hoping this project progresses and creates a viable breath/mouth input control.

Plus, I just picked up a copy of “The Art of Electronics” by Horowitz and Hill. Some serious reading for anyone dabbling with electronics!

http://artofelectronics.net/

May be after the holidays before I get going again (other than rereading chapter 5 over and over till it all starts to sink in)!
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Poland308
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I just read a report on the NPR website the other day about a compound that is made up of silly putty and carbon. There thinking of useing it in medical devices. It reliably changes resistance based on pressure. Might be of interest to you.
I have more questions than answers

Josh
Zipzit
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I have an idea, that might be of some merit... I'd propose a voice activated system. Use an Alexa/Siri style voice system to control your TIG welder. Designed for handicapped welders without access to foot pedal controller. The intent here is to create a complete package so that anybody who wanted to build their own would have a complete guide to hardware and software. The intent is that the handicapped welder would wear a blue tooth headset with microphone under his helmet. That would be linked to a Raspberry Pi Linux computer plugged into power and attached to the welder power supply. The user could use voice commands to fully control the TIG welder power supply.

Voice Commands:
"quick tack", "tack weld", "quick burst"
"start arc", "start welding"
"increase current", "more current", "more juice", 'increase current to XXX amps"
"hold current" , "hold amperage",
"decrease current", "less current", "less juice"
"hold amperage"
"top arc", "stop welding"

The system would provide confirmation of all commands, including listing amperage output (e.g. "92 amps") every x seconds.

The system is based on a Raspberry PI / Amazon Echo / Alexa voice activated controller system.

I think the blue tooth microphone is necessary, as I doubt an Echo mounted microphone, ten feet away would work in a shop from a person wearing a welding helmet, particularly if you have a loud cooling fan or high frequency TIG welding going on.

What really makes this work is they've open sourced the code used to control Alexa, including Voice Triggering. Any software folks out there? I've just now started a project on Github: https://github.com/zipzit/Voice-Operate ... Controller Do check out that link, the readme includes voice command ideas, as well as links to other code repositories.

Zip...
UglyBlobs
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Poland308 wrote:I just read a report on the NPR website the other day about a compound that is made up of silly putty and carbon. There thinking of useing it in medical devices. It reliably changes resistance based on pressure. Might be of interest to you.
After wrestling with this for awhile, I came to the conclusion that the system needs to be modular. One piece is a rock solid, reliable, wireless transmitter. The second part is the input device. Depending on the user's preference, the input method can be changed. So, any ideas for translating user actions and into welder control are welcome.

WWOW asked about a mouth operated control and this has been my primary focus.

However, before we are done, who knows, if we keep throwing stuff at the wall, some form of novel input control (like silly putty and graphene) might just stick.
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UglyBlobs
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Zipzit wrote:I have an idea, that might be of some merit... I'd propose a voice activated system. Use an Alexa/Siri style voice system to control your TIG welder. Designed for handicapped welders without access to foot pedal controller. The intent here is to create a complete package so that anybody who wanted to build their own would have a complete guide to hardware and software. The intent is that the handicapped welder would wear a blue tooth headset with microphone under his helmet. That would be linked to a Raspberry Pi Linux computer plugged into power and attached to the welder power supply. The user could use voice commands to fully control the TIG welder power supply.
Zip...
A voice activated system is a novel idea.

I am curious as to how the Bluetooth and Alexa type voice system will perform in a high RF environment.

Anyone currently using a Bluetooth headset while welding (TIG and especially using HF)?

Any issues, drop outs, static etc?
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Lincoln 175 Square Wave Tig
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kristofer75
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Why does it seem the schematic for the Lincoln K814 arc start switch is a guarded secret? I have been looking all over the web and finally found this forum, maybe someone has one they could pin out for me? I recently have a project that has some odd positions in it and wanted to tack them up first. I have a Lincoln square wave tig 200. I believe through what can be found about this switch it is compatible with the tig I have. Thanks in advance.
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