Dynamic simulation of virtual prototypes in immersive environment

Virtual reality (VR) became a very common mean during the development of the industrial products. One of the main applications of VR in the industrial field is the validation of virtual prototypes (VP). A virtual prototype should be able to reproduce, as realistically as possible, the behaviour of the product from any point of view. In this paper we propose an unexploited approach to the simulation of a VP in VR. A high level software library for the inter-process communication has been developed to let the multi-body solver communicate with the VR environment. Such approach allows the designer to use different software frameworks for the simulation and the visualisation. The test case provided regards an excavator machine. It is possible to simulate the action of the actuators to move arms and bucket, and also perform visibility analyses discovering the viewing volume of the operator.

[1]  Elmar Schömer,et al.  Interactive simulation of one-dimensional flexible parts , 2006, Symposium on Solid and Physical Modeling.

[2]  J. S Bao,et al.  Immersive virtual product development , 2002 .

[3]  Massimo Bergamasco,et al.  Fork-lift truck simulator for training in industrial environment , 2005, 2005 IEEE Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation.

[4]  Christiaan J. J. Paredis,et al.  Integration of mechanical CAD and behavioral modeling , 2000, Proceedings 2000 IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Behavioral Modeling and Simulation.

[5]  Alfonso Urquía Moraleda,et al.  Easy Java Simulations: an Open-Source Tool to Develop Interactive Virtual Laboratories Using MATLAB/Simulink* , 2005 .

[6]  Fabio Bruno,et al.  Innovative integration techniques between Virtual Reality systems and CAx tools , 2008 .

[7]  Teodor P. Grantcharov,et al.  Virtual reality simulation in training and assessment of laparoscopic skills , 2007 .

[8]  Antonio Jimeno,et al.  State of the art of the virtual reality applied to design and manufacturing processes , 2007 .

[9]  Roger A. Dougal,et al.  A virtual prototype for a hybrid electric vehicle , 2002 .

[10]  Fabio Bruno,et al.  An experimental environment for the runtime communication among different solvers and visualization modules. , 2007 .

[11]  Claudio Kirner,et al.  Simulation of real-time systems: an object-oriented approach supported by a virtual reality-based tool , 2005, 38th Annual Simulation Symposium.

[12]  A. Sanz Lobera,et al.  Virtual reality simulation applied to a numerical control milling machine , 2007 .

[13]  Ioannis Karaseitanidis,et al.  Designing 3D input devices for immersive environments , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37583).

[14]  T. G. Kirner,et al.  Validation of real-time systems using a virtual reality simulation tool , 1997, 1997 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. Computational Cybernetics and Simulation.