Virtual welding simulators to help fill skilled trades shortages
Adam Smyth is helping Hamsa Ali learn how to weld, and they’re not melting any metal to do it.
“So right now, he’s a little bit off on his angle, so if he rotates his wrist to the right a little bit, and move a little bit closer, he’ll be in the green. Now he can pull the trigger and do the weld,” said Smyth, while watching Ali weld using virtual reality (VR).
Stratford’s Technical Training Group (TTG) is one of the first in our region to use a Virtual Reality Welding Simulator to train students in the precise art of melding metal. With a VR attachment to the front of the welding helmet, and some specially designed hardware, anyone can learn the intricacies of welding, without actually having to melt metal.
“This is good for any age group. We can take it to trade shows, or schools, and have kids of any age try it, and see what welding is like,” said Smyth.
The Canadian Welding Bureau says the country needs to fill 20,000 to 30,000 welding positions due to retirements, in the next decade.
Most of those recruits will have no previous welding experience, and welding practice can be expensive.
“Raw materials is always a huge thing. That’s already expensed to the customer. Small and medium sized businesses can’t afford to expense extra raw materials out to do that preliminary training,” said Larry Livingstone, chair of the Huron Manufacturing Association.
A virtual welding simulator in use at Technical Training Group’s shop in Stratford on March 22, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
The VR welding simulators are the newest offering from Huronia Welding and Industrial Supplies in Goderich, which just started selling the Lincoln Electric and Miller Electric Virtual Reality simulators this month.
“It’s not brand new technology, but it is brand new for us, and we’re one of the first ones in Canada that are able to do it,” said Huronia Welding salesperson, Nathan Swartz.
For Huronia Welding owner Doug Fines, virtual reality is not something he thought he’d ever be in the business of, but desperate times call for innovative measures.
A virtual welding simulator in use at Technical Training Group’s shop in Stratford on March 22, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)“We need the welders, so we need to build that skill set, to ultimately use the products we sell, too,” said Fines.
At the Technical Training Group, where they provide apprentice and pre-apprentice skilled trades training, the VR welding simulator is already being used on a daily basis.
“It has indicators right on the screen. How far away you are from the plate, the angle, your aim, and where the weld is actually going on. It gives you an indicator of what your travel speed should be to keep you in line with things. It’s quite amazing, really,” said TTG Welding Instructor, Adam Smyth.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978852.1722008165!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious but rainy opening ceremony on the Seine River
Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
She couldn't stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
Omaira Gill grew up counting down the days to each Olympic Games. She wasn’t especially sporty, so she ruled out the prospect of competing pretty early on. But she still harboured Olympic dreams – even just spectating would do.