Virtual Reality VR Applications in Manufacturing Engineering
(Part 1 of 3)
Introduction
The modern-day technology has led to the revolution in the various aspects of the virtual reality to conceptualize the various aspect of designs and manufacturing. There has been a great revolution in the modern-day Virtual reality (VR) technology. The modern VR like the Oculus that was invented in 2012 is promising more software and hardware functionalities that have made to the recent acquisitions in the Tech industries.
We see giants like Facebook having a wide interest in the VR market with the latest being Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing the possible acquisition of Oculus in 2014. This was a deal that as estimated at 2-Billion US dollars. This is an indication that the tech giants are seeing a possible success in the VR market and the entry-level companies have a vast advantage. The VR technology that has a vast market in the gaming industry also has other applications in the manufacturing industry.
VR in CAD Design
The manufacturing industry is a dynamic industry that has so many variables that need to be constantly checked. This calls for the uses of technology and the VR has been on the forefront in this area. The VR, for instance, has been factory-based manufacturing simulations. The simulations would mean that the reduction of the manufacturing process is greatly reduced due to the shorter duration that is used for the design and the actual concept. This means that the CAD designs that are done can be greatly visualized for the 3D designs and the designer can interact with the various stakeholders so as to cut down on the production time. This means that the approvals of the designs can be greatly reduced and this can lead to increased production of the various components that are to be designed in the process. In the manufacturing process where the production cost is a huge factor on the overall profitability of the product. The reductions in the production costs will have a huge toll on the profit margins.
Building and Construction Industry
The construction industry is mainly characterized by numerous visualizations that need to be presented to the various stakeholders. The various buildings in the presiding years had to be presented as models on smaller scaled models. This was both cumbersome and time consuming to design and come up with. Thanks to the great strides done through the VR technology its now possible to do the designs in 3D and greatly reduce on the time of the process for models. In the design there can be the adoption of an adaptive algorithm that can be able to analyze the various aspects of the variables and be able to make the suitable adjustments that can suit the demands. The adaptive algorithm is one of the key features that the VR has incorporated that will work as feedback based system where the alterations of the various inputs are compensated by the software and in some cases the hardware.
Interior Design
This is the concept of being able to see the designs of the various components to details and even have a virtual tour. Many sites for the real estate have adopted this technology where the potential clients have to put on a VR kit and can have a virtual tour. The VR can either be in 3D or in some cases 2D that means that the person can still navigate along the site for the various showcases that are presented. The interior design is a growing industry that has promising prospects in the forthcoming years. This means that the data can be share across the various users and in most cases multiple users can also be used.
Similar to the gaming-based VR the incorporation of the VR for the interior design means that the custom application of aesthetic values for the design like color and texture can be adjusted. This means a Real time change in the various aspects of the design and the suitability of the various markets can be adjusted faster.
Challenges for VR in Manufacturing
The VR is promising huge advantages that are already been realized for the current user and even more with the concepts to be adopted, despite the huge success during the roil out, there are various proportions of the VR that would see still need to be addressed. The first one is the issue of adoption of the technology that would need to the taught across the numerous users in the manufacturing industry.
The sensitization and the education are both costly and time consuming. The roll out by the major player has been hit by some of the costs that would be required to train those that would be required to adopt the technology. Since for most of the VR kits the data is shared virtually the data is prone to being accessed illegally through intrusion of systems, this would need the employment of security layers and also access control for the database. This means that the programming for this system would be suited in away that the data takes would have to have the proper clearance that would be required for that level data access.
The other challenge with the VR unlike the convectional prints for the 3D presentation is the portability of the systems. The VR would be restricted in most cases to the positions that have access to power and in some cases internet access. This mean that the transfer of the technology in the filed purposes would be a great challenge since the various users would be in most cases restricted physically to the points of access of the data and technology. On the aspect of data intrusion extra expertise would be required for the data security and also measures to prevent data access.
