Method and apparatus for setting up welding parameters

1 . A welding system comprising:

a display device configured to display an electronic parameter chart, wherein the electronic parameter chart comprises a plurality of rows that intersect a plurality of columns, a user interface configured to receive at least one of a row input to indicate a selected row from the plurality of rows of the electronic parameter chart and a column input to indicate a selected column from the plurality of columns of the electronic parameter chart,

wherein an intersection of the selected row and the selected column in the electronic parameter chart is representative of a combination of at least two of the following parameters: a workpiece material, a tungsten type, a tungsten size, an electrode type, an electrode size, an electrode wire type, a shielding gas composition, a shielding gas flow rate, an electrode wire diameter, an arc start, an inductance, and a workpiece thickness,

wherein the selected row corresponds to a first value of at least a first one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of columns,

wherein the selected column corresponds to a second value of at least a second one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of rows, and

wherein the selected row and the selected column represent different parameters;

a welding power supply configured to provide welding power;

a welding processor configured to determine, based on the selected row and the selected column, welding parameters; and

a controller configured to control the welding system based on the determined welding parameters.

2 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding parameters comprise at least one of welding voltage, wire feed speed, and welding current.

3 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the display device is configured to display at least a portion of the electronic parameter chart.

4 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the display device is configured to display a first portion of the electronic parameter chart, and to display a different portion of the electronic parameter chart based on at least one display input received via the user interface.

5 . The welding system of claim 4 , wherein the display input comprises at least one of a first display input for controlling displaying of rows of the electronic parameter chart and a second display input for controlling displaying of columns of the electronic parameter chart.

6 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to control a welding operation according to the welding parameters.

7 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to update the electronic parameter chart.

8 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to format the electronic parameter chart for the display device based on a readability setting.

9 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the row input comprises a first selection of at least one of a workpiece material, a tungsten type, a tungsten size, an electrode type, an electrode size, an electrode wire type, a shielding gas composition, a shielding gas flow rate, an electrode wire diameter, arc start, wire inductance, and a workpiece thickness.

10 . The welding system of claim 9 , wherein the column input comprises a second selection of at least one of the workpiece material, the tungsten type, the tungsten size, the electrode type, the electrode size, the electrode wire type, the shielding gas composition, the shielding gas flow rate, the electrode wire diameter, arc start, wire inductance, and the workpiece thickness, the second selection being different from the first selection.

11 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to determine the welding parameters using the selected row and the selected column via at least one of a pre-determined time and receiving a selection input via the user interface.

12 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to determine the welding parameters after a pre-determined time after receiving at least one of the selected row and selected column.

13 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to determine the welding parameters after receiving a selection input via the user interface after receiving at least one of the selected row and selected column.

14 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to determine the welding parameters after receiving a selection input via the user interface without receiving first at least one of the selected row and selected column.

15 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the welding processor is configured to output a message indicating that the welding parameters are not determined after receiving a selection input via the user interface without receiving first at least one of the selected row and selected column.

16 . The welding system of claim 1 , further comprising a wire feeder configured to feed electrode wire.

17 . The welding system of claim 1 , wherein the selected row and the selected column are finalized after a pre-determined time of inactivity of the user interface.

18 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing machine executable instructions that when executed causes a computing system to perform a method of setting up and controlling a welding system, the method comprising:

displaying an electronic parameter chart on a display device of the welding system, the electronic parameter chart relating at least one of voltage, wire feed speed, and welding current to characteristics of a welding operation, wherein the electronic parameter chart comprises a plurality of rows that intersect a plurality of columns;

receiving, via a user interface of the welding system, a row input to indicate a selected row of the electronic parameter chart displayed on the display device;

highlighting, via the display device, the selected row, wherein the selected row corresponds to a first value of at least a first one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of columns;

receiving, via the user interface of the welding system, a column input to indicate a selected column of the electronic parameter chart displayed on the display device, wherein the selected row and the selected column represent different parameters;

highlighting, via the display device, the selected column, wherein the selected column corresponds to a second value of at least a second one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of rows;

setting, using a welding processor, welding parameters comprising at least one of a welding voltage, a wire feed speed, and welding current based on the selected row and the selected column; and

controlling, using a controller, the welding system based on the determined welding parameters,

wherein a combination of the selected row and the selected column in the electronic parameter chart is representative of a combination of at least two of the following parameters: a workpiece material, a tungsten type, a tungsten size, an electrode type, an electrode size, an electrode wire type, a shielding gas composition, a shielding gas flow rate, an electrode wire diameter, an arc start, an inductance, and a workpiece thickness.

19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for controlling the welding operation according to the welding parameters.

20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for updating the electronic parameter chart.

21 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for determining the welding parameters after at least one of an elapsed pre-determined time and receiving a selection input via the user interface of the welding system.

22 . A welding system comprising:

a display device configured to display an electronic parameter chart, wherein the electronic parameter chart comprises a plurality of rows that intersect a plurality of rows;

a user interface configured to:

receive at least one of a row input to indicate a selected row from the plurality of rows and a column input to indicate a selected column from plurality of rows,

wherein the selected row and the selected column represent different parameters,

wherein the selected column is highlighted on the display device in response to the column input and the selected row is highlighted on the display device in response to the row input,

wherein an intersection of the selected row and the selected column in the electronic parameter chart is representative of a combination of at least two parameters,

wherein the selected row corresponds to a first value of at least a first one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of columns, and

wherein the selected column corresponds to a second value of at least a second one of the at least two parameters for all of the plurality of rows;

a welding power supply configured to provide welding power; and

a welding processor configured to determine, based on the selected row and the selected column, welding parameters; and

a controller configured to control the welding system based on the determined welding parameters.