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Using virtual manufacturing to design human-centric factories: an industrial case

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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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge CNH Industrial Italia for the precious collaboration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari”, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Margherita Peruzzini, Fabio Grandi & Sara Cavallaro

  2. Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Marcello Pellicciari

Authors
  1. Margherita Peruzzini
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  2. Fabio Grandi
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  3. Sara Cavallaro
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  4. Marcello Pellicciari
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Correspondence to Margherita Peruzzini.

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Peruzzini, M., Grandi, F., Cavallaro, S. et al. Using virtual manufacturing to design human-centric factories: an industrial case. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 115, 873–887 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-06229-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-06229-2

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