Digital Engineering – August 2019

DigitalEngineering247.com /// August 2019 DE | Technology for Optimal Engineering Design (^21)
product design process? What will the hybrid visualization tech-
nology let engineers do that they can’t already achieve with more
established enhanced-reality tools?
MR system advocates say that by taking the best of AR and
VR, the hybrid systems deliver richer interactions, enhanced ef-
ficiency and greater flexibility.
“The idea that you can look at a complex system and modify it
can be particularly appealing,” says Todd Zielinski, senior director
of electrical engineering for the Bresslergroup, a design consul-
tancy based in Philadelphia. “AR allows you to see and potentially
diagnose problems or add information in a spatial context, while
MR implies you can now interact with that system in a more
meaningful way in real time.”
MR’s efficiency entails streamlined design processes, greatly
enabled by the VR element of the MR system.
Very early in the design process, when there are few physi-
cal objects accessible to serve as design aids, VR is instrumental
in helping design engineers to view their designs before they are
made and experience key design concepts. Engineers can take their
CAD designs, merge that geometry with the contextual geometry
of neighboring components and digital human models, and gain a
real sense of how users will interact with the new product.
“Interaction modeling is examined and tested early in the pro-
cess, which helps significantly in defining the operation of the prod-
uct, and what features it must have—and how they work—in hard-
ware and software,” says Zielinski. “This helps minimize the time
spent on product development due to missed or incorrect require-
ments by pushing system modeling earlier in the design process.”
Once engineers immerse themselves with the products in their
chosen context, they can conduct engineering reviews, which nor-
mally would not occur until after parts are available. This effec-
tively lets designers jump months, or years, into the future. If any
shortcomings emerge in the design surface, development teams
can evaluate mitigating options or redesign the product and then
determine if the changes address the shortcomings.
These advantages help development teams reduce the amount
of time their products are in design because a virtual prototype
can be created in short order. “This is a very fast, iterative pro-
cess—even faster than 3D printing of prototypes,” says David
Francis, chief marketing officer for Theorem Solutions.
In addition, MR systems promise to smooth the transition
from design to manufacturing, holding out the potential for an
end-to-end efficiency improvement. “The design can be checked
[so] that it can actually be assembled,” says Francis. “Can you get
a wrench or screwdriver into a restricted space? Can the material
be formed as the designer has designed? Can a welder actually
get the equipment into that space to create a proper weld? Is the
design safe? With mixed reality, you can use the actual tools on
the holographic/virtual product.”
An MR Workflow
Typically, an engineer begins working with an MR system by tak-
ing the relevant 3D CAD files and preparing them for use in a vir-
tual environment. This means translating them into a lightweight
format suitable for use on an HMD, smart glasses or a tablet.
To accomplish this, the designer processes the 3D CAD
models, optimizes and decimates them so that the MR sys-
tem can visualize them. The system then displays the data
in immersive 3D.
Moving Toward Greater Collaboration
These immersive 3D visualizations open the door for greater
collaboration among development team members, supporting an
interactive quality previously unheard of before the introduction
of VR technology.
“The real power comes when multiple users are viewing the
data collaboratively,” says Francis. “For example, Theorem’s soft-
ware allows multiple engineers using MR headsets to view the
data in the same session. The assembly appears as a hologram
that can be interacted with by all participants—although one at
a time. If they are in a remote location, then they appear as an
avatar to their colleagues. VR, MR or desktop devices can all
be used concurrently. Discussions around the design can be an-
notated with video/audio or text remarks, which are accessible
following the review.”
As impressive as this sounds, how do MR systems stack up
against pure VR systems for collaboration?
For example, when handling large assemblies like airplanes,
can MR headsets deliver the same level of performance as a
VR-based cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) or
powerwall systems?
In these applications, MR systems can fall short. “Massive as-
semblies such as entire airplanes or ships can be modeled and
viewed in mixed reality, and through collaboration, all parties can
be involved regardless of which device they have or where they are,”
says Francis. “One point on the large assemblies, however, is that
mixed reality displays data in context with the environment. If you
are in an office building, displaying an entire airplane would not be
practical. In this example, VR would be better.”
Another area of concern is whether HMDs such as Magic
Leap One and smart glasses like HoloLens 2 can support a multi-
user experience adequate to satisfy engineers’ expectations in de-
sign review applications? How do MR systems compare with the
VR-based CAVE and powerwall systems? Does the MR collab-
orative viewing experience for design reviews scale up?
Mixed reality headsets such as Microsoft HoloLens 2 or
Magic Leap One allow designers to view and interact
with digital data, such as CAD models, in the actual
working environment rather than on a 2D screen.
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