Improving the Skills and Knowledge of Future Designers in the Field of Ecodesign Using Virtual Reality Technologies

Abstract Nowadays future designers are required to explore different fields of engineering (e.g. basis of design and operation of machines, methodology of process design, characteristics of phases of a product life cycle, ergonomics, etc.) in order to obtain sufficient knowledge about the product, the problems of its operation and related services. Currently, there is a strong tendency to take into account the impact of a product on the natural environment. The handling of products that are withdrawn from usage is one of the big problems emerging in a modern society. One of the possibilities to solve these problems is taking into account the environmental issues at the very early stage of the product design. Authors created the methodology to include recycling requirements in the phase of design of the product with support of the CAD 3D systems14,15. In details, the method of ecological-oriented product assessment during the design process was implemented in CAD 3D environment in order to improve the skills and knowledge of future designers about environmental aspects of the designed product12. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the training of designers, authors decided to use immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technologies that are more and more often used as advanced training systems. The user/trained person can explore Virtual Environment (VE) for educational and exercise purposes5. Immersive VR technologies are gaining wider use as engineering design tools to support the product design phase because of their ability to deliver an immersive and user friendly environment that can be used as digital test-bed for prototypes of the product30. Paper briefly describes the analysis of the recycling of selected product designed in the CAD 3D system with the support of Virtual Reality technologies that were based on the recycling product model (RpM) and the agent technology12,14,15. The RpM, developed during the geometric modelling phase, includes the data necessary for a comprehensive product recyclability evaluation already at the design stage. This approach allows designer to select appropriate solutions that facilitate future disassembly and to choose materials most suitable in terms of future recycling. The analysis allows to make an assessment of the susceptibility of the product for recycling using the agent system. The agent system, in accordance with the recycling product model (RpM) that was implemented in the 3D CAD system, is an innovative tool for the designer to enable a comprehensive assessment of the product in terms of its susceptibility to recycling. Future designers (students of mechanical engineering fields) gained possibility to improve their skills and knowledge in the field of ecodesign through the immersive trainings of virtual product design for recycling. Applying the Virtual Reality technologies for training of the future designers was aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of training mainly due to immersion and interaction with the virtual environment and to explore the product before it is constructed, as well as provide learning of the environments in which the finished product will be operated. As the example of the recycling-oriented virtual product design, case study of the design of small household appliance is presented. Participants of the immersive training (students) have a possibility to design the product in the Virtual Reality and select the optimal variant, which meets all environmental requirements. Short description of the recycling modeling (creation of connections, defining the extended materials and disassembly attributes) as well as an example of recycling assessment such as calculation of recycling assessment measures or providing tips and suggestions generated by agent system is also presented.