I-TRace – Immersive TRAining for aerospaCE.
There is an increasing global demand for Aerospace and Aeronautic products and it is expected to continue rising. This turns into more demand for skilled workers and the need for new skills.
To answer this challenge the I-trace project has the aim to add innovative technological tools through an open source philosophy that will complement and go beyond existing training instruments at universities, VET providers, and companies. This way digital updated skills and - most difficult to have in existing educational paths - practical experience in this emerging sector will be more available to students in the whole European Union.
The aim of the project:
Development of VR/AR technology training/courses for aviation students (optional specializations) and employees of interested aviation companies in the field:
- inspections of: airplanes, production lines and machinery park;
- construction and operation of machines and their components, etc.
Selected areas of work:
In particular, the presented areas will allow participants to get acquainted with AV/VR systems, to get to know their possibilities and to learn how to use these systems. An important area of interest is the training of maintenance personnel in the field of fault identification, or the analysis by aircraft manufacturers of the easiness of assembly and disassembly. Most defects are rare and therefore difficult to train with real aircraft. However, in the case of VR systems it is possible to train maintenance personnel to identify such incidents. The training system can also be used to certify maintenance personnel. The addition of devices to enhance the VR experience is useful in raising the level of training.
The proposed training will be developed in the following stages:
- development of a training system for the use of VR/AV;
- a system of training with the use of VR/AV technology in selected areas: inspection of aircraft, production lines and machinery, construction and operation of machines and their components.
Tasks to do:
1. Development of VR models:
Components to be used for the development of VR models for the implementation of the planned trainings will be prepared on the basis of consultations with representatives of the aviation industry. In particular, they will concern the production process and maintenance procedures, assembly/dismantling of aircraft components. 3 stages of model development are planned:
- Stage 1 - 3D VR simulation of the work cell and tasks to be performed;
- Stage 2 - enabling the user to interact with the VR model through a head-mounted display and cyber gloves;
- Stage 3 - increase of experience with haptic devices and feedback from listeners.2.
2. Training system
The training system to be developed will focus on the use of virtual reality systems in combination with haptic devices (a technology that uses mechanical communication with users through the sense of touch using changing forces, vibrations and movements).
Implementation phases:
- Training in the use of virtual reality systems.
- Consultations with representatives of the aviation industry concerning the definition and formalization of selected technological processes, maintenance, as well as inspections and possibilities of their implementation with the use of VR/AR technology.
- Training with the use of VR/AR technology in the selected areas.
Software used to perform tasks
- Unity 3D;
- Unreal.
Equipment and environment used to perform the tasks (MR):
- Tablets/projectors VR/AR,
- Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE),
- head-mounted displays (HMD)
- cyber gloves for VR,
- systems: Oculus Rift, OpenGL and Oculus SDK.
Benefits of the proposed studies:
- Creation of guidelines for the creation of interactive training environments;
- Provide a safe working environment for students, apprentices and trainers;
- Shortening the project duration of new VR models;
- Analysis of assembly and maintenance tasks;
- Training system for aircraft manufacturers and maintenance teams;
- Use of haptic and auditory devices to enhance the VR experience;
- Mobility of the whole environment;
- Reduction of employee training time (no need to wait for the creation of a real workstation and artifacts);
- Cost reduction.