Virtual Environments for Manufacturing And Training (VEMAT)

ByTan Hock Soon

On Behalf ofShen Shuang Yang

Mr Zhou Hong

Tan Kim Cheng

Acknowledgement

APEC TEL for funding this research under the project title VEMAT (05/2001).

Outline• Introduction

– Shortage of manpower, facilities– Concept of sharing

• Literature Review– Increasing trend of collaboration in manufacturing– Increasing trend of virtual technologies in education– Findings

• Conceptual Framework– Prototype Selection– Clustering– Software– Application Framework (Video)

• Tests• Concluding Discussion• Q & A

1. Introduction

• In education, we recognized that there is often a shortage of:– Experienced/qualified teachers– Equipment, especially specialized laboratory

equipment

• We can try to alleviate the problem of shortage of teachers by sharing them (or their knowledge) in different ways:– Digitize their knowledge (in courseware, video, etc.)– Allow synchronous lessons to be conducted using

video conferencing

1. Introduction

• Contemplate the networked laser printer

• By sharing it, its effectiveness has increased, more users benefit from the connection

1. Introduction

• Could the same approach be taken for even more expensive equipment?

• Could the idea of “sharing” be taken further?

• What would be the likely mechanism?

• How does this help education?

2. Literature Review

• Internet-enabled distributed systems (Bailey 1995, Tay et. al. 2001)

• Portals for virtual manufacturing (www.i-msc.com)

• Equipment and machines gravitating towards Internet integrated technology, modular and commercially available parts (Tan & Chu 2000, Tan & Lee 1999)

Increasing trend of collaboration in manufacturing

2. Literature Review

• Empirical data on transfer of skills from virtual environments to real world in terms of instructional effectiveness (Moshell et. al. 1993, Tan & Ward 1998)

• Potential of VEs in education & training (Youngblut 1997, Francis & Tan 1999)

• Simulators & on-line laboratories (Tan 2000, Tan & Chu 2000)

Increasing trend of virtual technologies in education

2. Literature Review

Findings

• Very possible that certain categories of equipment/machines could be shared

• Some equipment already have built-in capabilities for connection to a network

• Very possible to retrofit equipment at low cost using standard components

• Resource-sharing concept is feasible• Possible to create simulations for on-line

training

3. Conceptual Framework

• Equipment Selection– Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) Machine, a

type of Rapid Prototyping (RP) Machine

– Set-up involved relatively few steps that can be easily controlled remotely

– Operation time was long, ranging from a few hours to days

– Machine and Process is expensive

– Machine is controlled by a microprocessor that had easy means of communicating with external world through ACL (Automove Control Language)

3. Conceptual Framework

Clustering of Equipment

Remote Clients

Broadband Connection

Broadband Connection

AXIS Video Server

Portal

FDM Server

Database Server

Other Nodes

Other Clusters

RP machine cluster

FDMMachine Cluster Controller

VEMAT prototype node

3. Conceptual Framework

Software

TS (Terminal Service)

ASP (Active Server Pages)

MSDE (Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine)

ADO (ActiveX Data Object)

ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)

DHTML (Dynamic HTML) / CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) / Javascript

Visual Basic

ACL (Automove Control Language)

Route and Remote Access Service

Windows Media Service

3. Conceptual Framework

Application Framework – Application in Biomedical Engineering

CT/MRI SCAN FILES

VELOCITY2 PRO INSIGHT FDM 3000 MODEL CLIENT

RAW FILES

STL FILE

SML FILE

This software is used to process CT/MRI scans to 3D Models and finally to STL files

This software is used to process STL 3D model for manufacturing purpose, which includes slicing, support building and tool-path computation. The output file is in SML format – ACL codes read by FDM 3000 RP machine

Manufacturing process

Desired part

3. Conceptual Framework

Scheduler

Web Portal

3. Conceptual Framework

Live Webcam Training

Remote Access

3. Demonstration – Video Clip

Tests Conducted• Aug 2002 Beijing

– Trial with CERNET• Aug 2002 Shanghai

– A live demonstration was performed, which tested the stability and efficiency of the VEMAT system. The bandwidth of the remote user is 2Mbps, which is sufficient for both remote access and high-quality live video stream transmission. Up to this point, the first phase of VEMAT is closed with satisfactory results.

• Oct 2002 Internal Tests for Phase 2– Use of new methodology.

• Nov 2002 Final Tests– During this period, VEMAT was tested from various remote IP addresses all

over the world. This was achieved by using public SOCKS5 proxies and SocksCAP from Networking Systems Laboratory, NEC USA, Inc. VEMAT was tested fully functional up to this point of time. Some minor changes to the user interface were made to make the system more user-friendly.

• Dec 2002 Evaluation by APEC TEL and IDA• Dec 2002 User Tests from BIOMAT Lab• Mar 2002 Acceptance by APEC TEL and IDA

4. Discussion and Conclusion

Sharing of resources between institutions allow costs to be minimized; equipment to be fully utilized

Provide service to educational and research community - reducing the development cost and time

Collaboration allows learners to gain international perspectives by working with people from other country

Courseware allows users to practise; be familiar with the system

Convert CT/MRI images and fabricate models for biomedical and tissue engineering applications

Questions?

Thank You!http://vemat.tp.edu.sg

http://cvd.tp.edu.sg

R&D - TS and VNCR&D - TS and VNC

  VNC Terminal Service

 Service concept Protocol Efficiency Security Expandabe Customizable

 Remote control RFB Low Poor No No

 Application service RDP High Good Yes Yes

R&D – VEMAT Kernel ServiceR&D – VEMAT Kernel Service

Security Considerations:

Hide “Start” button

Hide tray icons

No right-click

VEMAT interface maintains on background