Towards Zero Prototyping of Factory Layouts and Operations Using Novel Gaming and Immersive Technologies

目的：本研究旨在将离散事件模拟（DES）与游戏界面技术的最新创新相结合，将新颖的沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）和实时事件反馈功能整合到DES中。由此产生的技术将解决在设计新建工厂和管理现有工厂运营时阻碍更有效地使用建模和仿真的障碍。研究结果将通过将Lanner的DES工具WITNESS与VR眼镜Oculus Rift和集成3D传感设备Microsoft Kinect集成在一起来展示，从而将沉浸式VR （immersive WITNESS或IW）和实时事件反馈功能（live WITNESS或LW）集成到WITNESS中。什么是沉浸式见证（IW）？IW是最新的消费设备VR技术（Oculus Rift）与Lanner的DES工具WITNESS的集成。目前，WITNESS主要依赖于标准（非沉浸式）显示技术。虚拟现实在20世纪90年代是一个非常流行的话题，但由于期望和技术限制之间的差距，人们的兴趣迅速消退。最近的发展已经大大缩小了差距，为在制造模拟中实现VR的全部潜力提供了新的尝试。IW如何带来价值？DES与VR的耦合为过程仿真开辟了一个新的维度。文献中提到的好处包括决策者的参与增加，从而改进了模型，更好地理解了过程，增加了对模型的信心，更快更容易地发现错误和评估模型行为，促进了想法的产生，以及更好地与客户和其他利益相关者沟通。Oculus以传统设备的一小部分成本提供了前所未有的虚拟现实世界沉浸感。此外，人机界面的新发展（Leap Motion, Sixense STEM, Myo, Kinect）为用户与虚拟世界互动开辟了潜在的有用途径。什么是Live WITNESS (LW)？LW是一种通过使用集成的3d传感消费者设备（微软Kinect）将DES模拟与现实世界同步的新方法，该设备可以在车间提供廉价，强大且不显眼的传感器系统，以查看给定场景，观察过程并生成适当的信号来更新DES模型。LW如何带来价值？使用DES的缺点是处理来自各种数据源的输入数据以确保有效的仿真结果的工作量和成本。已尝试从现有信通技术系统收集数据；处理遗留数据仍然是一个巨大的挑战。LW通过使用低成本生成的数据流避开了这个问题。成功将意味着DES模型在任何时候都能准确地表示现实世界的过程。为什么IW和LW被提议一起创建沉浸式/现场见证（I/LW）？3D传感和VR是互补的技术；前者有助于构建真实世界的精确虚拟镜像，后者则将生成的虚拟世界可视化。例如，Kinect提供了一种快速生成反映现实的虚拟世界的方法，可以使用Oculus进行查看和编辑。这个项目提供了一个两种技术可以相互补充的环境。与单独开发每个组件相比，同时开发IW和LW的建议方法还可以降低风险，同时创造更多价值。克兰菲尔德大学将引领I/LW的一体化发展。技术选择：最近有许多基于消费设备的人机界面技术的发展，比如Oculus Rift和微软Kinect。在制造业中，这些技术有可能为虚拟工厂提供前所未有的沉浸感、细节和实时精度，从而使虚拟工厂始终准确地反映真实工厂。这是一个没有直接竞争对手的新项目。

Aim: The research aims to integrate Discrete Event Simulation (DES) with recent innovations in gaming interface technologies to incorporate novel immersive Virtual Reality (VR) and live event feedback capabilities into DES. The resulting technology will address the barriers that prevent more effective use of modelling and simulation in designing newbuilt factories and managing the operations of existing factories. The research results will be demonstrated by integrating Lanner's DES tool WITNESS with Oculus Rift, a VR goggle, and Microsoft Kinect, an integrated 3D sensing device, hence incorporating immersive VR (Immersive WITNESSS or IW) and live event feedback capabilities (Live WITNESS or LW) into WITNESS.What is Immersive WITNESS (IW)? IW is the integration of the latest consumer device VR technology (Oculus Rift) with Lanner's DES tool WITNESS. At the moment, WITNESS mainly relies on standard (non-immersive) display technologies.VR was a very popular topic in the 1990s, but interest waned away rapidly due to a gap between expectations and technological limitations. Recent developments have closed the gap considerably, opening up an opportunity for a fresh attempt to achieve the full potential of VR in manufacturing simulations.How does IW bring value? The coupling of DES and VR opens up a new dimension for process simulation. Among the benefits cited in literature are increased involvement from decision makers resulting in an improved model and better understanding of the processes, increased confidence in the model, quicker and easier detection of errors and evaluation of model behaviour, facilitation of the generation of ideas, and better communication with clients and other stakeholders.Oculus provides unprecedented immersion in a VR world at a fraction of the cost of traditional devices. Furthermore, new developments in human-computer interfaces (Leap Motion, Sixense STEM, Myo, Kinect) have opened up potentially usefulways for users to interact with the virtual world.What is Live WITNESS (LW)? LW is a novel means to synchronise DES simulation with real-world through the use of an integrated 3D-sensing consumer device (Microsoft Kinect) that can provide a cheap, robust and unobtrusive sensor system on the shop-floor to view a given scene, observe a process and generate appropriate signals to update the DES model.How does LW bring value? The drawback of using DES is the effort and cost of processing the input data from various data sources to ensure valid simulation results. Attempts have been made for gathering data from existing ICT systems; dealingwith legacy data remains a great challenge. LW side-steps this problem by using a cheaply generated data stream. Success will mean that DES models can accurately represent real-world processes at all times.Why are IW and LW being proposed together to create Immersive/Live WITNESS (I/LW)? 3D sensing and VR are complementary technologies; the former helps in constructing an accurate virtual mirror of the real world and the lattervisualises the resulting virtual world. For example, Kinect provides a way to rapidly generate virtual world that mirrors reality, which can be viewed and edited using Oculus. This project provides a setting where both technologies can complement each other. The proposed approach of developing IW and LW at the same time will also reduce risks whilst creating more value than if each component were developed separately. Cranfield University will lead the integrated development of I/LW.Choice of technologies: There have been many recent developments in human-computer interface technologies rooted inconsumer devices, such as Oculus Rift and Microsoft Kinect. In manufacturing, these technologies have the potential to deliver an unprecedented level of immersiveness, detail and real-time accuracy to DES such that the virtual factory alwaysaccurately mirrors the real factory. This is a new project with no direct competitors.