Virtual Mechanical Assembly Training Based on a 3D Game Engine
Chang, Y., Aziz, E.-S., Esche, S. K. & Chassapis, C.
Computer-Aided Design and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 119-134, 2015.
Abstract
State-of-the-art 3D video games can provide their users with a near-real experience from visual, audio and interactivity perspectives.
Numerous efforts have been made to take advantage of these favorable characteristics for educational purposes.
The majority of these projects have focused either on the reconstruction of certain scenarios, such as fire emergency response training, driver or pilot training, medical training, military tactics training, etc., or on the realistic simulation of real environments, such as virtual museum tours and virtual architectural tours.
However, only recently have attempts been made to develop virtual engineering training environments since those require the assembly of different types of individual components into potentially complex systems and involve interactions between multiple participants.
In this article, a framework for developing collaborative virtual environments for mechanical assembly training based on a commercial computer game engine is introduced.
A formalized representation of the assembly process that captures the information on the joint kinematics and the components’ degrees of freedom generated when assembling a system is discussed and illustrated using the example of a planetary gear train.
Such virtual environments not only maintain the feel of immersion of a 3D game, but they also emphasize realistic physical device management and control.
In this context, mechanical engineering trainees are enabled to manage a large variety of mechanical components, assemble them according to engineering requirements or potentially disassemble them.
Therefore, such virtual environments have the potential to become valuable workforce development tools that enable their users to acquire practical skills for assembling a variety of electro-mechanical systems for the purpose of manufacturing, maintenance and repair.