Posted on April 6, 2021 9:40 am
By combining augmented reality with virtual reality, technology implemented by the Montagu-based Home Improvement Training Center (Fendi) has enabled the holographic integration of a new five-axis digital control. It was about checking before he arrived that the 20m2 machine was installed in an 800m2 technical platform.
Afpia Solfi2A coaches are equipped with a mixed reality headset, and were able to verify the new Biesse machine on a scale of 1 in its future environment. Dimensions, ergonomics, movement around the machine, accessibility to the tool, precise positioning in relation to the extractor, holographic representation of the machine made it possible to review everything, adjust design selection and avoid positioning errors. The dimensions of the machine were drawn to the ground, and it had to be finally changed by a few centimeters so that it was precisely attached to the workshop’s suction tubes.
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To design this hologram, the training center called on Holoforge Interactive, which specializes in designing professional applications in mixed reality. Purdue makes its software available to Afpia Solfi2A, which provides feedback and an exhibition of its technology to companies operating in the planning sector. Biesse France, which designs and manufactures industrial machinery for wood and related materials, provided a 3D model for five-axis numerical control.
Financially, Afpia Solfi2A obtained financial support from Codifab (Professional Committee for the Development of French Wooden Furniture Industries) to purchase the machine (130,000 euros) and develop the educational portion of the program. “This technology opens great opportunities in predictive maintenance and training,” says Raphael Robert, General Manager of Vendée Training Center. The center added an educational brick to the program. This includes simulated training of users to use the new processing center.
“Mistakes with handling them can damage the machine,” says Samuel Richard, deputy director of the Montaego Center. “Mixed reality makes it possible to increase the efficiency and accuracy of learners’ gesture on complex and expensive machines without harming them and provides them with technical information via a headset while leaving their hands free.” The program also allows for the ability to roughly “disassemble” an assembly in order to visualize its component parts one by one, whether for maintenance, repair or reproduction.
A professional training tool, the app is available for companies operating in the home improvement sector in order to adapt organizations and their skills to changes in technologies. Because in addition to the 130 trainees in initial training, Afpia Solfi2A receives approximately 1,300 employees in continuous training every year.
