Development of a virtual manufacturing assembly simulation system

Abstract

Assembly operations are a key component of modern manufacturing systems. Designing, planning, and conducting assembly operations represent an important part of the cost of a product. Virtual reality provides an efficient and cost-effective solution to manufacturing design, planning, and prototyping. Still there are certain issues (such as data translation, integration of various hardware and software systems, and real-time collision detection) faced while applying this advanced technology to the assembly domain. For example, existing works focus on using virtual reality systems and environments mainly to design new products and to plan for assembly. Little focus has been given to develop virtual reality environments that contribute to train operators on assembly operations and to bridge the gap between design and implementation/execution of assembly. Therefore, the research work presented in this article focuses on developing a fully functional virtual manufacturing assembly simulation system that solves the issues related to virtual reality environments. The proposed system uses a virtual environment to create an interactive workbench that can be used for evaluating assembly decisions and training assembly operations. It is a comprehensive system that provides visual, auditory, tactile, as well as force feedback. The system works successfully even with large components.