Virtual Welding Equipment · UK public procurement notice

City College Plymouth seeks to establish a Welding Centre of Excellence at Kings Road, Plymouth. Modernised facilities and innovative equipment will enable our specialist trainers to provide welding training from entry level to higher level specialised provision, supporting new entrants into welding careers and providing specialist skills to support employer growth.

The College plans to implement Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Welding training to engage young people into the sector, upskill existing workforce in new technologies and provide a fun, interactive, progressive method of teaching which complements the traditional hands-on practical programme of learning.

VR/AR training simulators will allow our tutors and employers to provide initial hands-on training that delivers instantaneous feedback and proficiency scores as students or employees essentially perform the same task they would on the job. Students must learn how to replicate proper machine setup before they can “weld.” They must know how to properly enter the material type, the welding process and relevant settings before they can pick up and use the welding torch. The ability to easily repeat the task without time-consuming and costly setup at a real workstation will help to quickly boost retention. Students will understand welding philosophy and proper technique and gain muscle memory before entering an actual welding booth; allowing the student to work with real torches and real mask, and interact with the real environment enhancing the experience with virtual elements thanks to the AR technology. We will deliver an embedded e-learning system comprising training and simulation sequences to build a high level of motivation and enable rapid progress of our students.

Furthermore, our training solution will enable students to weld not only on the standard education/certification joints but also a continuously increasing catalogue of Advance Welding Multijoints which meet the real requirements of particular industries.

The College is also looking to upgrade its existing welding bays as part of the project.

In order to achieve this, we seek to procure the equipment detailed in the attached documentation.