Title: An assembly process simulation method in immersive virtual reality environment

Authors: Hui Zhang; Biao Yan; Liling Xia; Qiucheng Wang

Addresses: Yancheng Vocational Institute of Industry Technology, Yancheng, 224000, China ' College of Information Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225000, China ' Yancheng Vocational Institute of Industry Technology, Yancheng, 224000, China ' Yancheng Vocational Institute of Industry Technology, Yancheng, 224000, China

Abstract: In a virtual assembly process simulation, it is difficult to simulate the real assembly process completely due to the imperfection of haptic and force feedback. To solve this problem, a novel assembly process simulation method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the rough and exact placement stages were divided according to the actual assembly process. Then, a series of judgment rules were formulated to determine their assembly completeness according to the differences of geometric features and assembly methods of different parts. Meanwhile, to let users feel the constraint effect of contacts on part motion in the virtual environment without force feedback, a heuristic analysis method is introduced. The results show that the proposed method can better reflect the uncertainty of human's actual assembly operation compared with the method based on geometric constraints, and it can better meet the needs of assembly analysis of mechanical products.

Keywords: virtual assembly; virtual environment; force feedback; heuristic analysis method; constraint effect.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2023.129134

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2023 Vol.43 No.3, pp.384 - 406

Received: 27 Apr 2020
Accepted: 06 Apr 2021
Published online: 22 Feb 2023 *

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