Systems and methods of the present invention are directed to welding systems having a welding power supply and wire feeder, where the power supply and wire feeder communicate over the welding power cables. In exemplary embodiments, the wire feeder communicates with the power supply over the welding cables using current draw pulses which are generated and recognized by the power supply. Similarly, the power supply generates voltage pulses which are transmitted over the welding power cables and recognized by the wire feeder.

A welding system and welding helmet is provided, where the welding helmet is capable of providing an image representative of information from an associated welding operation where the image appears as a head-up display (HUD) in the welding helmet. The helmet displays the information at a focal point which coincides with a working distance of a welding operation so that a user need not change his/her focus during a welding operation. The helmet also comprises a microphone to allow for audio instruction to be provided to a welding power supply to change settings.

Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for implementing universal commands in a welding or cutting system. Techniques described herein may include a method including receiving, by a processor of a welding system, a command over a communication interface of the welding system. The command may be parsed into a command identifier. The command may be registered with a control module. The registered command may be assigned a sequence number. The command may be executed by the processor based upon the assigned sequence number. The results of the execution of the command may be stored into an output buffer. The results of the command may be sent via the communication interface to a node of the welding system.

Systems and methods for welding asset tracking are disclosed. In some examples, a welding asset tracking system may comprise an asset tracking network of tags, hubs, and/or gateways retained by welding assets within a welding area. The asset tracking network may obtain and/or communicate to an asset tracking server welding data related to one or more of the welding assets, as well as position data obtained via an internal and/or external positioning system. In this way, the welding asset tracking server may continually receive updated information regarding each welding assets identity, location, and/or use. The asset tracking server may additionally send a command to a selected welding asset that causes an interface of the selected welding asset to emit an output that enables an operator to physically identify the welding asset.

A system and method provide gasless, mechanized, field welding of an exterior of a tubular structure such as a pipeline, without the need for an enclosure. An embodiment consolidates some of the welding equipment on a skid for ease of transport to and from a remote worksite. The gasless weld may be achieved despite the presence of wind, by precisely controlling an arc voltage as disclosed. The footprint and weight of the system may be minimized, along with the associated labor, expense, and environmental impact otherwise incurred by conventional welding techniques using enclosures.

A welding system is provided. The welding system includes a low power transceiver configured to be coupled to a weld cable. The low power transceiver includes a low power transmitter, a low power receiver, and a first processor. The low power receiver is configured to transmit one or more unmodulated tones through the weld cable to a welding power supply. The low power receiver is configured to receive the one or more unmodulated tones through the weld cable from the welding power supply. The first processor is configured to determine one or more channel equalization filter coefficients related to the weld cable corresponding to a distortive characteristic of the weld cable.

Disclosed are apparatus and systems to determine voltage measurements in welding-type applications to facilitate control of welding-type processes. Disclosed systems include a remote operations interface configured to facilitate voltage measurements in welding-type applications and facilitate communication between a welding-type power supply and a wire feeder.

Vision correction and tracking systems may be used in laser machining systems and methods to improve the accuracy of the machining. The laser machining systems and methods may be used to scribe one or more lines in large flat workpieces such as solar panels. In particular, laser machining systems and methods may be used to scribe lines in thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar panels with accuracy, high speed and reduced cost. The vision correction and/or tracking systems may be used to provide scribe line alignment and uniformity based on detected parameters of the scribe lines and/or changes in the workpiece.

Welding power supplies and user interfaces to control output polarity for welding power supplies are disclosed. An example welding power supply includes: a first terminal and a second terminal configured to be connected to welding equipment; power conversion circuitry configured to convert input power to weld power and to output the weld power via the first and second terminals; an interface, including: one or more first input devices configured to receive a selection of a wire feeding weld process; and one or more second input devices configured to receive a selection of a polarity of the weld power; and control circuitry configured to, in response to receiving, via the interface, an input associated with at least one of the wire feeding weld process or the selection of the output polarity, control the polarity of the weld power output via the power conversion circuitry to the first and second terminals.

Welding power supplies and user interfaces for welding power supplies are disclosed. An example interface includes control circuitry configured to: in response to inputs from first, second, third, and fourth buttons, select a welding process, electrode wire type, electrode wire size, and shielding gas composition from respective sequences; select a welding program based on the selections; in response to input from the first input device, select a wire feed speed; based on the selected wire feed speed, automatically select a voltage based on a relationship between the wire feed speed and the voltage, the relationship based on at least one of the selected welding process, the electrode wire type, the electrode wire size, or the shielding gas composition; and control at least one of an output of power conversion circuitry based on the selected voltage, or a feed speed of a wire feeder based on the selected wire feed speed.