Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155156 (2004) 18341838

Virtual reality applications in manufacturing process simulation

T.S. Mujber , T. Szecsi, M.S.J. Hashmi
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland

Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is a rapidly developing computer interface that strives to immerse the user completely within an experimental
simulation, thereby greatly enhancing the overall impact and providing a much more intuitive link between the computer and the human
participants. Virtual reality has been applied successfully to hundreds if not thousands of scenarios in diverse areas including rapid prototyping, manufacturing, scientific visualisation, engineering, and education. This paper gives an overview on the virtual reality applications
in manufacturing processes.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Virtual reality; Virtual manufacturing; Virtual environment

1. Introduction
The current demand to reduce the time and cost involved
in taking a product from conceptualisation to production has
forced companies to turn to new and emerging technologies
in the area of manufacturing. One such technology is virtual
reality (VR). The origins of virtual reality can be traced as
far back at least as the ultimate display [1]. Virtual reality
allows a user to step through the computer screen into a
three-dimensional (3D) world. The user can look at, move
around, and interact with these worlds as if they were real.
The primary concept behind VR is that of illusion. It focuses on the manifestation of the fantasy world of the mind
in computer graphics. It is also a new media for information
and knowledge acquisition, and representing concepts of
ideas in ways not previously possible [2]. With the advance
of computer technology, VR systems could contribute efficiently in various applications. Virtual manufacturing (VM)
is one of the applications of applying VR technology in
manufacturing applications. Researchers at the University of
Maryland have introduced the concept of virtual manufacturing in 1995 [3], while the contribution and achievements
of VM have been reviewed by Shukla et al. [4] Virtual manufacturing is defined as a computer system which is capable
of generating information about the structure, status, and
behaviour of a manufacturing system as can be observed in
a real manufacturing environment [5]. The vision of virtual
manufacturing is to provide a capability to manufacture in
the computer. That means VM will provide a modelling
Corresponding author. Tel.: +353 85 1420534.
E-mail address: tariq.mujber2@mail.dcu.ie (T.S. Mujber).

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.401

and simulation environment so powerful that the fabrication/assembly of any product, including the associated manufacturing processes, can be simulated in the computer [6].
1.1. Types of VR systems
Ivan Sutherland has introduced in a seminal paper the
key concepts of immersion in a simulated world, and of
complete sensory input and output, which are the basis of
current virtual reality research. His challenge was to set
the screen is a window through which one sees a virtual
world to make it looks real, acts real, sounds real, and
feels real [1]. Although it is difficult to categorize all VR
systems, most configurations fall into three main categories
and each category can be ranked by the sense of immersion, or degree of presence it provides. These categories
include non-immersive (Desktop) systems, semi-immersive
projection systems and fully immersive systems as shown
in Table 1. Vast amount of VR software packages available
on the market, which can be used to develop virtual environments for different applications (e.g. Superscape VRT
and SENSE8). Moreover, software packages have been
developed for virtual applications in manufacturing (e.g.
DELMIA). DELMIA package [7] provides authoring applications that can be used to develop and create virtual manufacturing environment to address process planning, cost
estimation, factory layout, ergonomics, robotics, machining,
inspection, factory simulation, and production management.
1.2. Virtual reality applications in manufacturing
Manufacturing industries are the most important contributors to prosperity in the industrialised countries. However,

T.S. Mujber et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155156 (2004) 18341838

1835

Table 1
Types of VR systems
VR system

Non-immersive VR

Semi-immersive VR

Fully-immersive VR

Input devices
Output devices

Mice, keyboards, joysticks and trackballs.

Standard high-resolution monitor

Gloves and voice commands.

Head mounted display (HMD), CAVE

Resolution
Sense of immersion
Interaction
Price

High
Non-low
Low
Lowest cost VR system

Joystick, space balls and data gloves.

Large screen monitor, large screen
projector system, and multiple
television projection systems
High
Mediumhigh
Medium
Expensive

it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet customers

demands and to compete. The advances in virtual reality
technology in the last decade have provided the impetus for
applying VR to different engineering applications such as
product design, modelling, shop floor controls, process simulation, manufacturing planning, training, testing and verification. VR holds great potential in manufacturing applications to solve problems before being employed in practical
manufacturing thereby preventing costly mistakes. Virtual
reality not only provides an environment for visualisation
in the three-dimensional environment but also to interact
with the objects to improve decision making from both
qualitative and quantitative perspectives [8]. The following
section discusses the use of virtual reality in manufacturing
applications, which include, design, prototyping, machining, assembly, inspection, planning, training and simulation.
Virtual reality applications in manufacturing have been
classified into three groups; operations management, manufacturing processes, and design. A brief description of
every group and its relevant subgroups will be provided
in the coming sections.
1.2.1. Design
Virtual reality may play very significant rule in design
a new product. VR technology has been applied into two
different applications in design; design and prototyping as
shown in Table 2. The benefits of the applying VR in design
are shown in Table 4. VR provides a virtual environment for
the designers in the conceptual design stage of designing a
new product; the designer could produce 3D sketch of a

Lowmedium
High
High
Very expensive

product in the virtual environment. At this stage, functional

experimentation of mechanical features such as hinges, assembly, etc. could be performed to evaluate the conceptual
design and modifications could be made as required. Once
the designers are satisfied with their design, then the design could be detailed to make the necessary modifications.
In the product development process, prototyping is an essential step. Prototypes represent important features of a
product, which are to be investigated, evaluated, and improved. Virtual prototyping could be used before building the
physical prototype to prove design alternatives, to do engineering analysis, manufacturing planning, support management decisions, and to get feedback on a new product from
prospective customers. The virtual environment for prototyping should include [6].
(a) Functionality: the virtual prototype should be clearly
defined and realistically simulated to address product
functionality and dynamic behaviour.
(b) Human interaction: the human functions involved must
be realistically simulated, or the human must be included
in the simulation.
(c) Environment: an offline computer simulation of the functions can be carried out, or a combination of computer
offline and real time simulation can be carried out.
1.2.2. Operations management
Operations management has been classified into three
categories; planning, simulation and training. The benefits
of applying VR technology to these categories are shown

Table 2
Manufacturing design applications
Application

Definition

Product design Virtual design is the use of VR technology to provide the designer
with a virtual environment to evaluate the design, evaluate
alternate designs, effectively interact with the product model and
conduct ergonomic studies using full human body tracking.

Prototyping

Example

A virtual workshop for mechanical design was developed at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The goal of the project was
to develop a simulated workshop for designers to do conceptual
design work while having to take into account manufacturing
processes. The simulated workshop consists of a band saw, a drill
press, a milling machine, a radial arm saw and a table saw. [9]
Virtual prototyping means the process of using virtual prototypes University of Illinois, Chicago, and Purdue University have
instead of or in combination with physical prototypes, for
designed and implemented a prototype of a virtual reality based
innovating, testing and evaluating of specific characteristics of a computer aided design system. The focus of this work is to allow
candidate design.
a simplified method of designing complex mechanical parts
through the use of virtual reality techniques [10].

1836

T.S. Mujber et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155156 (2004) 18341838

Fig. 2. Virtual factory created by witness VR.

Fig. 1. Fully immersive VR environment.

in Table 4. Due to the necessity of a smarter factory planning; Virtual reality is a useful method to improve the
understanding of the plans and to support interdisciplinary
discussions. Fig. 1 shows fully immersive VR environment,
which has been used as a tool for future factory design.
This environment has been developed to provide a visual,
three-dimensional space in which to explore the effect of
various product mixes, inspection schedules, and worker
experience on productivity [11]. Virtual reality-based training is the worlds most advanced method of teaching
manufacturing skills and processes to employees. Using
cutting-edge VR technology, training takes place in a realistic, simulated version of the actual facility, complete with
the actions, sights, and sounds of the plant floor [12]. Some
of the simulation products provide some form of visualisation for depicting model output (e.g. Witness 2003, Simul8,
and Flexsim). Fig. 2 shows a virtual environment created
by Witness VR for a factory [13]. Table 3 shows the applications of VR technology on the operations management
categories.

1.2.3. Manufacturing processes

Manufacturing processes has been classified into three
different areas; machining, assembly, and inspection. Table 4
gives a brief description on the benefits of using VR in
manufacturing processes.
1.2.3.1. Machining. Virtual machining mainly deals with
cutting processes such as turning, milling, drilling, and
grinding, etc. The VM technology is used to study the factors affecting the quality, machining time of the material
removal process as well as the relative motion between the
tool and the workpiece. Fig. 3 shows an engineer uses a
Virtual reality semi-immersive environment to simulate
the use of a hexapod machine tool. [16] University of Bath
in Bath has developed an interactive virtual shop floor containing a three axis numerical control milling machine and
a five axis robot for painting. The user can mount a workpiece on the milling machine, choose a tool and perform
direct machining operations, such as axial movements or
predefined sequences [17].

Table 3
VR applications in operations management
Area

VR applications

Planning

VR can lead to an optimal planning of a manufacturing system by giving a visual environment to the all person involved in the
planning process to monitor the factors that lead to inadequate planning results and delay the start of product.
Visual comparison of possible solutions based on human experiences and facts lead to a rapid start of production and robust
manufacturing processes [14].

Simulation

VR convince the people who do not believe, know in the simulation tools and understand the capabilities of simulation. [21]
VR helps to verify the model logic and real-world behaviour of the model [15].
VR is an important factor in the verification process as it provides a visual trace of events as they happen.
VR gives an opportunity to the people who have not built the model to verify it.
VR supports the simulation tools to understand the results and the dynamic behaviour of the model.
VR provides virtual environment to the employees, mangers and non-technical audience to communicate and understand the
statistical outcome of a simulation.

Training

VR offers the best training by allowing each employee have a full access to the entire facility.
The virtual environment of the facility will allow the employees to practice existing and new tasks in safe, and see how a
product takes shape as it moves through the manufacturing system, which result more effective training.

T.S. Mujber et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155156 (2004) 18341838

1837

Table 4
Summary for virtual reality benefits in manufacturing applications
Area
Design
Design

Prototyping

Benefits
To
To
To
To
To

Operations management
Planning
To
To
To
To
Simulation
To
To
To
To
To
Training
To
To
To

allow the whole design team to work together in the virtual environments.
improve visualisation of the product by allowing the user to co-exist in the same environment with the product model.
improved interaction with design in terms of more intuitive model manipulation and functional experimentation.
reduce significantly the amount of hardware prototypes during conception, design, and evaluation of new products.
provide a virtual environment for innovating, testing and evaluating of specific characteristics of a candidate design.
improve the understanding of the plans and to support interdisciplinary discussions.
allow the users to interact and change the model during runtime.
enable unskilled users to understand and participate in the planning process.
support the technological as well as the economical modelling of diverse production planning scenarios.
convince the use the simulation tools.
verify and validate a simulation model.
enable the user to understand the results.
provide a virtual environment for communication of results.
achieve the credibility for the simulation. [21]
duplicates an entire manufacturing process to a virtual environment to give trainers their own factory to learn in.
provide a user with an environment to explore the outcomes of their decisions without risk themselves or equipment.
allow the employees to practice existing and new tasks in safe.

Manufacturing processes
Machining
To evaluate the feasibility of a part design and the selection of processing equipment.
To allow the user to study the factors affecting the quality, machining time and costs based on modelling and simulation
Assembly
To reduce design cycle time, re-design efforts, and design prototypes. [18]
To predict the quality of an assembly, product cycle and costs.
To address assembly and disassembly verification.
Inspection
To model and simulate the inspection process, and the physical and mechanical properties of the inspection equipment.
To provide an environment for studying the inspection methodologies, collision detection, inspection plan, factors affecting the
accuracy of the inspection process, etc [20].

1.2.3.2. Assembly. Virtual assembly is a key component of

virtual manufacturing and is defined as: the use of computer
tools to make or assist with assembly-related engineering
decisions through analysis, predictive models, visualisation,
and presentation of data without realization of the product
or support processes. In assembly work [18], VM is mainly
used to investigate the assembly processes, the mechanical

and physical characteristics of the equipment and tooling,

the interrelation among different parts and factors affecting
the quality based on modelling and simulation. Virtual reality can be used for assembly/disassembly operations. For
example, can a human worker assemble a part or a component? And then can the part be disassembled for service and maintenance at latter stages? Other questions need
to be addressed, too: is it difficult or easy to assemble/disassemble a part? How long does it take? How stressful
is it in terms of ergonomics? Is there enough room for tools?.
1.2.3.3. Inspection. Virtual inspection makes use of the
VM technology to model and simulate the inspection process, and the physical and mechanical properties of the inspection equipment. This aims at studying the inspection
methodologies, collision detection [19], inspection plan, factors affecting the accuracy of the inspection process, etc.
[20].

2. Conclusions

Fig. 3. Virtual machine tool.

VR can be a powerful tool for testing and evaluating new

products and ideas, decreasing the time to market and reducing product cost. Today, only large companies use virtual
technologies and benefit from its competitive advantages.
VRs widespread use and acceptance will require devices

1838

T.S. Mujber et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 155156 (2004) 18341838

and software with higher quality and lower cost. Existing

VR technology has been applied to solve clients real-world
problems, and has increased profitability, decreased time to
market, and increased worker safety. Manufacturing processes and design can be defined, modelled and verified before they can be actually implemented. Virtual realty offers
the engineers new ways to not only visualize their problems but also to interact with the environment to solve the
problems effectively and efficiently. These visualisations,
combined with interaction can improve the decision-making
capabilities of engineers thereby improving quality and reducing the development time for new products. If these VR
technologies are effectively implemented, it can result in
improved product design, with superior quality leading to
better customer satisfaction.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support
received through a grant from AMT Ireland.

References
[1] I.E. Sutherland, The ultimate display. Proceedings of IFIPS Congress,
vol. 2, New York, NY, 1965, pp. 506508.
[2] K. Pimentek, K. Teixeira, Virtual reality: Through the New Looking
Glass, first ed., Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, PA, 1993.
[3] E. Lin et al., Contribution to Virtual Manufacturing Background
Research, http://www.isr.umd.edu/Labs/CIM, 1995.
[4] C. Shukla, V. Michelle, F.F. Chen, Virtual manufacturing: an
overview, Comput. Ind. Eng. 31 (1996) 7982.

[5] K. Iwata, M. Onosato, K. Teramoto, S. Osaki, Virtual manufacturing

systems as advanced information infrastructure for integrated manufacturing resources and activities 46 (1997) 335338.
[6] Melissa Saadoun, Virtual Manufacturing and its Implications, France,
1999.
[7] DELMIA, http://www.delmia.com.
[8] R.S. Tiruvannamalai, Virtual Reality in Design and Manufacturing
Applications, 2002.
[9] J.W. Barrus, The Virtual Workshop: A Simulated Environment for
Mechanical Design, Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, September 1993.
[10] S.N. Trika, P. Banerjee, R.L. Kashyap, Virtual Reality Interfaces for
Feature-Based Computer-Aided Design Systems, 1996.
[11] Virtual Reality applications centre, http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/
research archive/manufacturing/factory/index.php.
[12] Manufacturing training, Sunrise Company, http://sunrisevr.com.
[13] Anthony P. Waller, John Ladbrook, Experiencing Virtual Factories
of the Future, 2002.
[14] D. Schaefer, C. Borgmann, D. Scheffter, Factory Planning and the
Potential of Virtual Reality, 2001.
[15] S. Robinson, Simulation Model Verification and Validation: Increasing the Users confidence, Winter Simulation Conference, 1997,
p. 57.
[16] NIST, http://www.nist.gov/public affairs/gallery/vrmanu.htm.
[17] G.M. Bayliss, A. Bower, R.I. Taylor, P.J. Willis, Virtual Manufacturing, Presented at CSG 94Set Theoretic Modelling Techniques
and Applications, Winchester, UK, 1994, pp. 1314.
[18] S. Jayaram, H. Connacher, K. Lyons, Virtual assembly using virtual
reality techniques, Comp. Aided Des. 29 (1997) 557584.
[19] R. Tesic, P. Banerjee, Exact collision detection using virtual objects
in virtual reality modelling of a manufacturing process, J. Manufact.
Syst. 18 (1999) 367376.
[20] W.B. Lee, C.F. Cheung, J.G. Li, Applications of virtual manufacturing
in materials processing, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 113 (2001) 416
423.
[21] Matthew W. Rohrer, Seeing is believing: The Importance of Visualisation in Manufacturing Simulation, Winter Simulation Conference,
2000.