In the manufacturing industry, virtual reality breaks the constraints of two-dimensional planes and can accelerate the improvement of manufacturing productivity in many aspects such as virtual assembly, equipment maintenance, and training. It has already been initially applied in R&D, assembly, maintenance, and training in the global manufacturing industry.
In the research and development phase, virtual reality (VR) technology can showcase the three-dimensional appearance of products, enabling researchers to comprehensively conceive of the product's shape, structure, molds, and component configurations. Particularly in the development of large equipment products such as aircraft and automobiles, VR technology can significantly improve the accuracy of product performance. Boeing applied VR technology to the design of its 777 and 787 aircraft. Through VR projection and motion capture technology, it completed the design of the aircraft's shape, structure, and performance, achieving a deviation of less than one-thousandth of an inch from the actual aircraft. Statistics show that the Boeing 777, designed using VR, reduced design errors by 90%, shortened the development cycle by 50%, and lowered costs by 60%.
In the assembly stage, virtual reality technology is currently mainly applied in precision machining and large-scale equipment manufacturing. Through the synergy of high-precision equipment, precision measurement, precision servo systems , and virtual reality technology, it can achieve precise coordination between machining systems with extremely low systematic and random errors, ensuring uniform workpiece materials, a constant temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and shock resistance. This improves equipment efficiency and quality. China YTO Group utilizes the "Digital Virtual Reality Display System" developed by the domestic company Manheng Digital to create a virtual assembly workshop. This system allows for 360-degree panoramic internal navigation, enabling multi-angle observation of each assembly station and precise tracking of the production process of assembled workpieces. This injects fresh blood and powerful momentum into the development of China's large-scale agricultural equipment manufacturing industry. In the virtual assembly stage, designers can comprehensively check the assembly gaps and interferences between parts before the actual processing of the product prototype. The assembly status can also be automatically checked through programs. This can significantly improve the actual assembly success rate and reduce the rework rate of parts.
In equipment maintenance and repair, virtual reality technology, applied to the maintenance of complex systems, enables end-to-end inspection from pre-production to post-sales. This overcomes spatial limitations, shortens time requirements, improves service efficiency, expands service content, and enhances service quality, propelling the servitization of manufacturing to a new stage. For example, Ford Motor Company, in collaboration with Chrysler and IBM, developed a virtual reality environment for automobile manufacturing. This environment can identify design flaws before vehicles leave the factory and assist in their correction, significantly shortening the new car development cycle. In the future, through remote data transmission, virtual reality technology will help achieve real-time, remote, and predictive monitoring and maintenance services.
In terms of training, establishing virtual training bases using virtual reality technology can provide a three-dimensional representation of manufacturing scenarios. This allows trainees to gain a highly realistic, repeatable, and low-risk learning experience through comprehensive sensory engagement, which is beneficial for manufacturing professionals to familiarize themselves with manufacturing environments and improve their application skills in advance. Currently, many domestic and international companies are already using virtual reality technology for training. For example, Royal Armoury in the UK used virtual reality technology to conduct vehicle training simulations on a new 14.5-ton vehicle, enabling operational training for drivers of this specialized vehicle.
From an application perspective, my country has achieved a number of research results in the field of virtual reality, laying the foundation for its application in the manufacturing industry. The sheet metal forming software jointly developed by Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and FAW Group can basically simulate the stamping process of complex covering parts such as car doors; the electroslag casting process simulation software developed by Shenyang Foundry Research Institute has been applied to the surface modeling of turbine blades; and the dual-tool CNC lathe machining simulation developed by Hefei University of Technology has been applied to the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Wheel and Wheel Hoop Plant.
In practical application, my country has initially applied virtual reality technology in high-end manufacturing fields such as aerospace, aviation, and automobiles. COMAC has developed a virtual reality simulation system for the preliminary research and evaluation of new civil aircraft and for tackling key technologies. FAW, Dongfeng, SAIC and other automobile companies have accumulated years of experience in using 3D software such as UG, CATIA, and PRO-E for product design, and have the data foundation required for applying virtual reality.
From the perspective of industrial foundation, my country's manufacturing scale ranks first in the world, with more than 320,000 large-scale manufacturing enterprises. It has a complete range of industries, a wide variety of products, and a sound industrial system, providing abundant application scenarios and vast potential for virtual reality technology.
The virtual reality industry market has a promising future. Several large domestic and international market research institutions predict that the global VR industry will be worth between $15 billion and $30 billion by 2020; consulting firm Gartner predicts the VR industry will reach $40 billion by 2020. In 2015, the market size of my country's virtual reality industry was around 1.5 billion yuan, and it is projected to reach 5.66 billion yuan in 2016 and nearly 60 billion yuan by 2020.
However, there are still some common problems in the application of virtual reality in my country, such as unclear application scenarios and application paths, the low level of development of related industries in my country making it difficult to balance the efficiency and cost of new technology applications, and the obvious shortcomings in the supply chain of virtual reality applications.
In response to common problems, CCID Consulting offers several suggestions: First, strengthen top-level design and plan application paths based on industry needs; second, intensify key research efforts to break through technical bottlenecks in industry applications as soon as possible; third, formulate standards and specifications and conduct joint testing and verification of industry applications; and fourth, promote pilot demonstrations to expand the scope and influence of industry applications.
For more information, please follow the Electronics Manufacturing Channel.
