حمایت واقعیت گسسته و مجازی برای شبیه سازی سیستم تولید

Nowadays companies operate in a difficult environment: the dynamics of innovations increase and product life cycles become shorter. Furthermore products and the corresponding manufacturing processes get more and more complex. Therefore, companies need new methods for the planning of manufacturing systems. One promising approach in this context is digital factory/virtual production—the modeling and analysis of computer models of the planned factory with the objective to reduce time and costs. For the modeling and analysis various simulation methods and programs have been developed. They are a highly valuable support for planning and visualizing the manufacturing system. But there is one major disadvantage: only experienced and long trained experts are able to operate with these programs. The graphical user interface is very complex and not intuitive to use. This results in an extensive and error-prone modeling of complex simulation models and a time-consuming interpretation of the simulation results. To overcome these weak points, intuitive and understandable man–machine interfaces like augmented and virtual reality can be used. This paper describes the architecture of a system which uses the technologies of augmented and virtual reality to support the planning process of complex manufacturing systems. The proposed system assists the user in modeling, the validation of the simulation model, and the subsequent optimization of the production system. A general application of the VR- and AR-technologies and of the simulation is realized by the development of appropriate linking and integration mechanisms. For the visualization of the arising 3D-data within the VR- and AR-environments, a dedicated 3D-rendering library is used.

A constant competition of businesses demands short product cycles and fast changes of products: the dynamics of innovations increase; the product life cycles become shorter; at the same time, the products become more complex; the keen competition forces companies to respond to changes of the market. It is important, that either the production processes are adjusted as quickly as possible to new circumstances or new production processes are planned in the way that they yield the required results straightaway [1] and [37]. The keywords digital factory and virtual production refer to a new approach, how to cope with the above mentioned challenges [2]. In this context, the discrete simulation of the behavior of production facilities is of particular importance. At first, the development of a simulation model is essential. Therefore, the considered system is analyzed and a computer-internal model is developed. This includes the modeling of functions, processes, behavior patterns or rules, which are to reflect the actual interrelations of effects in a business in this model [3]. The modeled aspects are linked together in the way that all functions of the model represent a whole. For various problems, extensive models with a complex behavior are required. However, an increasing size and complexity of the simulation model lead to more work for modeling, a higher error-rate and runtime, and to more work for interpretation when analyzing the results. Errors in modeling result in misinterpretation and false results in a simulation. In this context, the design of the user interface is very important [4]. For the usual, little intuitive WIMP-Interface (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointer) highly trained users are required so that the development of complex simulation models involves a lot of time. The simulation results are presented in the form of spread sheets and of two-dimensional, abstract illustrations of the production system. This seems to be adequate for simulation experts, but it is not acceptable for a multidisciplinary planning team consisting of people from diverse departments of a company. Therefore, the development of a simulation tool having more than an intuitively understandable user interface is required.

Nowadays businesses face increasing dynamics of innovations, shortened product life cycles, and a continuing diversification of the product range. Consequently, the planning of production systems plays an important role. Errors within the planning cannot be easily fixed and involve time-consuming and cost-intensive reconstructions. The described approach explicates that the development and planning of complex production processes and systems can be supported significantly by a VR-/AR-aided simulation. The presented system can be applied in every stage of the modeling (actual analysis, modeling, experiments, evaluation, adjustments, and presentation of the solution). In particular the cooperative planning of production systems is supported. The described concept of an integrated complete system is to be improved in the near future. In a subsequent step, the principal components of the system, e.g. image generation, simulator kernel, event handling, and integrated data model are implemented.