Multimedia Simulation Package for Teaching Manufacturing Processes in a Virtual Environment, Phase I

在美国，工程、商业和技术课程的毕业生中有相当一部分人在制造业工作。这些工作通常需要设计和/或管理复杂的信息密集型制造系统。但大多数工程师和商业专业的学生很少接触制造过程。该项目将在第一阶段开发综合模拟软件，用于在虚拟环境中教授操作策略和制造过程。该软件包将包括一个图形和动画用户界面，用于选择和输入所有必要的变量、参数和过程控制信息;模拟材料在制成产品时的变化的过程模型;以及图形和多媒体程序，用于显示结果并提供一个平台，用于分析对成本和质量等其他企业要素的影响。它将用于各种工程，技术和商业学生在任何学院或大学的制造过程课程的一部分。它也将被设计/建造团队用于顶点工程设计中的可制造性分析。开发的系统将类似于训练飞行员的飞行模拟器。潜在的飞行员在飞行模拟器中花费许多小时“学习飞行”，而不消耗一盎司燃料。使用该系统的学生将花费时间“学习制造”，通过体验实际成本和时间要求通常过高的制造过程。将软件纳入课程将导致教育经验的相关性与工作期望相比有数量级的改善。通过使用该软件获得的经验将允许新雇用的工程师，技术人员和未来的管理人员在较短的时间内在行业中提高生产力和创造力。

A substantial number of graduates of engineering, business, and technology programs in the U.S. go on to jobs in the manufacturing sector. These jobs often require the design, and/or management of complex, information-intensive manufacturing systems. But most engineers and business majors have very little exposure to manufacturing processes. This project will result in the first phase of development of comprehensive simulation software for teaching operational strategies and manufacturing processes in a virtual environment. The package will include a graphical, animated user interface for selection and input of all necessary variables, parameters and process control information; process models to simulate changes in materials as they are shaped into products; and graphical, multi-media procedures for indicating the results and providing a platform for impact analysis on other enterprise elements such as cost and quality. It will be used by a variety of engineering, technology, and business students in any college or university where manufacturing process courses are part of the curriculum. It will also be used by design/build teams for manufacturability analysis in capstone engineering design. The system developed will be analogous to a flight simulator for training pilots. Potential pilots spend many hours in flight simulators "learning to fly" without burning an ounce of fuel. Students who use this system will spend time 'learning to manufacture" by experiencing manufacturing processes where actual costs and time demands are usually prohibitive. Incorporating the software into the curriculum will result in orders of magnitude improvement in the relevance of the educational experience compared to job expectations. Experience gained by using this software will permit newly hired engineers, technologists and future managers to be more productive and creative in industry in a shorter period of time.