Design and application of virtual reconfigurable manufacturing system (ID: 2-059)

A prototype RMS (reconfigurable manufacturing system) visualization and simulation system in virtual reality environment called the Virtual RMS (VRMS) Was developed. VRMS offers two main functions: visualization and simulation. They allow the RMS designer to understand the characteristics and predict the behavior of the real system through interaction at different levels with a virtual factory. In order to constructing VRMS, the object oriented technique was used to establish its basic classes and its relevant data structure. According to its data structures, relevant models, including solid model, behavior model and control model, were established. Based on this, the constructing of VRMS was realized by Visual C++ and World Tool Kit (WTK). The application running in an immersive VR environment proved that the VRNIS is an efficient tool of analyzing and modeling for layout planning and rapidly reconfiguring of production system. A key issue for future work is extend the main function of VRMS to provide a distributed, web-based simulation system which can serve as an easily accessible tool for researchers and students who are interested in RMS design and operation in testing concepts and methodologies.