Challenges in developing virtual environments for product assembly and maintenance
Prof. Judy Vance (Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University)
COMPUTER SCIENCE SEMINAR Information and Human-Centred ComputingDATE: 2011-03-02
TIME: 15:00:00 - 16:00:00
LOCATION: CSIT Seminar Room, N101
CONTACT: JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address.
ABSTRACT:
Increasingly in industry, manufacturing considerations are being made early in the product design process. Manufacturing engineers and Design engineers collaborate using digital tools to prototype the manufacturing and assembly process and identify potential product design changes to aid in cost effective manufacturing. Virtual reality has a key role to play in providing a common communication medium for idea exchange between these groups of experts. This presentation will explore the challenges of using virtual reality for manufacturing and assembly prototyping and design. New approaches which include using voxel-based collision detection and b-rep-based geometric constraint enforcement along with 6 degree-of-freedom haptics look promising as a means to support virtual assembly of low clearance CAD models. Current research performed at Iowa State University in the Virtual Reality Applications Laboratory will be described along with visions for future research.
BIO:
Dr. Judy M. Vance is the Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Professor of Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University, all in Mechanical Engineering. Professor Vance spent several years in industry working for both Maytag and John Deere before returning to ISU to pursue her graduate education.
Dr. Vanceas research focuses on the use of virtual reality as an interface to design and as an aid to assembly methods prototyping. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and several industry partners including Deere & Co., P&G, and Ford Motor Company. In 1996 she received the National Science Foundation CAREER award for her research on using virtual reality to facilitate interactive design based on shape changes and finite element analysis.
Dr. Vance served as the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair at Iowa State University from 2003 through 2006. From November 2006 to November 2008 she was the National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Director for Engineering Design and Innovation. Professor Vance is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and past chair of the ASME Design Engineering Division Executive Committee, one of the largest technical divisions in ASME with over 30,000 primary members. In 2010, she was honored with the ASME Design Automation Award.
