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Virtual Manufacturing
What is
Virtual Manufacturring
Virtual
manufacturing(VM)
is
an
integrated,
synthetic
manufacturing
environment
exercised
to
enhance
all
leveles
of
decision
and
control
in
a
manufaceturing enterprise. VM can be
described as a simulated model of the actual
manufacturing setup which may or may
not exist. It holds all the information relating
to the process , the process control
and management and product specific data. It is
also possible to have part of the
manufacturing plant be real and the other part
virtual .
Virtual
manufacturing
is
the
use
of
computer
models
and
simulations
of
manufacturing process to
aid in design and production of manufactured
products.
Lawrence
Associate[1996],
have
identified
three
different
types
of
Virtual
Manufacturing paradigms that use
Virtual Reality technology to provide the
integrated
environment.
(1)Design-centered VM: provides
designers with the tools to design products that
meet design criteria such as design for
X
(2)Production-centered VM: provides
the means develop and analyse alternative
production the process plans;
(3)Control-centered
VM:
allows
the
evaluation
of
product
design,
production
plans, and
control strategy and a means to iteratively to
improve all of them through
the
simulation of the control process.
What
is the Significance of VM
VM
aims
at
providing
an
integrated
environment
for
a
number
of
isolated
manufacturing
technologies
such
as
Computer
Aided
Design
,
Computer
Aided
Manufacturing, and
Computer Aided Process Planning, thus allowing
multiple users
to
concurrently
carry
out
all
or
some
of
these
functions
without
the
need
for
being
physically
close
to
each
other.
For
example,
a
process
planning
engineer
and
a
manufacturing engineer can evaluate and
provide feedback to a product designer, who
may be physically located in another
state or country, at the same time as the design
is
being conceived.
Another
important contribution of VM is Virtual
Engerprise(VE). Lin et al[1995]
defined
a
Virtual
E
nterprise
as
“rapidly
configur
ed
multi-
disciplinary
network
of
small, process specific firms
configured to meet
a window of
opportunity to design
and
produce
a
specific
product.”
Using
this
techonology,
a
group
of
people
,
or
corporations
can
pool
their
expertise
and
resources
and
capitalize
a
market
opportunity, by
sharing informatiion in a VM environment. The
principal advantage
of
this
technology
is
its
ability
to
provide
a
multi-
media
envirnoment
,
enhancing
communication at
all levels in a product’s life cycle.
Application of VM
Application
of
VM
encompass
the
entire
life
cycle
of
a
product.
Reported
developments
include
a
virtual
space
decision
support
system
by
Imamura
and
Nomural[1994] at the Matsushita company
in Japan. This system applied towards the
marketing
and
sales
of
kitchen
furniture,
allows
customers
to
experience
a
kitchen
environment
and
evaluate
alternatives
and
select
the
best
combination
according
to
preferences. Their
preferences are stored as drawings and
subsequently transferred to
the
company’s production facilities.
Owen[1994]
presented
the
work
impleme
nted
at
John
Deere
Company’s
production
facility,
that
used
Virtual
Manufacturing
for
the
installation
of
an
arc
welding production system. The project
involved using a Virtual 3-D environment for
design, evaluation, and testing of the
robotic production system. Part of the work was
carried out at John Deere
facility’s
while part of it was done by
Genesis System and
Technomatrix
Technologies.
The
VM
approach
helped
shorten
the
design-to-manufacturing
cycle-time.
DuPont[1994]
presented
an
overview
of
Virtual
Reality
applications,
and
reported about Virtual prototyping
being carried out at the Coventty School of Art
and
Design. These virtual prototypes
are constructed in a computer at the beginning of
the
design process and allow the
designer to perform tests on the virtual prototype
such as
a car beforehand, by walking
around or through the design, examine its
performance
on a virtual road , sit in
the driver’s seat , and check view lines, etc.
Also reported
were VM applications such
as the virtual concurrent design and assembly of a
landing
gear, and simulation of side-
impact collision to test vehicle safety.
Kim
et
al.[1994]
also
reported
VR
applications
including
the
use
of
VM
by
designers
at Boeing Aircraft Company for the ergonomic
evaluation of their airplane
designs
for operation as well as maintenance. Another
study used a VM environment
to train
robots. An operator’s movements were recognized,
interpreted and stored in
the
form
of
robotic
movement
command.
Shenai
described
the
Virtual
Wafer
Fabrication(VWF) infratructure which
provided an framework for the optimization of
the
key
process
and
design
variables
in
the
development
of
application
specific
semi-conductor devices.
Other application areas
discussed in
Larijani[1994]
include
machine-vision applications for
diagnosis, fault detection , inspection and
preventive
maintenance, safety and
maintenance training, ergonomic analysis. For
example , new
cab or shovel
configurations for each Caterpillar moving
equipment are tested by real
drivers
for possible imbalances while handling virtual
bulldozers and turcks.