Using virtual manufacturing to design human-centric factories: an industrial case
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Using virtual manufacturing to design human-centric factories: an industrial case Margherita Peruzzini 1
&
Fabio Grandi 1
&
Sara Cavallaro 1 & Marcello Pellicciari 2
Received: 27 August 2020 / Accepted: 7 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising set of technologies to digitally simulate industrial processes and interaction between humans and machines. However, the use of immersive VR simulations is still limited in industry due to the uncertainty of benefits in respect with traditional digital tools, and the lack of structured methodologies to effectively implement immersive virtual simulations in practice. This paper deals with the application of VR to create virtual manufacturing simulations with the aim to design assembly lines in compliance with factory ergonomics. It proposes a methodology to allow the virtualization and simulation of assembly tasks using a combination of VR tools by replicating, or rather anticipating, what would happen at the shop floor. The adopted tools are Unity 3D for virtual environment generation, HTC VIVE to immerse the user in the virtual factory layout, Xsens as tracking system, and Leap Motion for gesture recognition. The paper also compares the new VR-based procedure with a more traditional desktop-based digital simulation on industrial cases. Results show that the new methodology is more precise to detect the operator’s comfort angles and more powerful to predict process criticalities and optimize factory layout design. At the same time, it is less sensitive to errors during ergonomic assessment related to the expert’s subjectivity during the analysis. Keywords Industrial ergonomics . Virtual reality . Virtual manufacturing . Human-centered design
1 Introduction Digitalization is one of the pillars of Industry 4.0 (I4.0); indeed, the digital connectivity enables decentralized controlled machines taking “autonomous” decisions and self-optimized production systems [1]. In this context, machines are becoming cognitive and “intelligent,” and more and more robots are being added to the workforce. But human operators are still fundamental and play a critical role, that has imposed to reorganize their training and tasks, and requires further skills. A recent research, considering the global manufacturing industry, shows that in the last three years, most employers plan to increase or maintain headcount as a result of automation [2].
* Margherita Peruzzini [email protected] 1
Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari”, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
2
Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy
As a matter of fact, I4.0 is not going to reduce people in industry, but it will surely change their tasks and the skills required to cope with new intelligent machines and environments. Therefore, the new challenge is to integrate humans with advanced technological systems. In the last
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