An Object Based Virtual Reality Simulation Tool for Design Validation of a New Paradigm Manufacturing Facility

Within Leapfrog project, the general task is to design an effective and efficient manufacturing solution coping with the needs of the mass customization competitive scenario, overcoming the limitations which have so far prevented the automation of the garment assembly, through a comprehensive and general (‘holistic’) redesign of the cloth manufacturing process properly exploiting flexible automation and robotic technologies. Virtual Reality simulation is a core part of the interactive validation of design choices. The garment assembly line simulator has various objectives: (a) Validation of the garment assembly line ‘holistic concept’; (b) Layout definition against realistic production data; (c) Prediction of realistic production metrics after line deployment. The simulator has been developed paying a special attention to easiness of maintenance: adding new resources or reports or changing the statistic of the production representative measures must require a limited effort; VR representation of what-if scenarios make easier comprehensive evaluation of alternative layout solutions.