Effect of Virtual Reality-Based Training on Complex Industrial Assembly Task Performance

Abstract The use of collaborative robots in the manufacturing industry has widely spread in the last decade. In order to be efficient, the human-robot collaboration needs to be properly designed by also taking into account the operator’s psychophysiological reactions. Virtual Reality can be used as a tool to simulate human-robot collaboration in a safe and cheap way. Here, we present a virtual collaborative platform in which the human operator and a simulated robot coordinate their actions to accomplish a simple assembly task. In this study, the robot moved slowly or more quickly in order to assess the effect of its velocity on the human’s responses. Ten participants tested this application by using an Oculus Rift head-mounted display; ARTracking cameras and a Kinect system were used to track the operator’s right arm movements and hand gestures respectively. Performance, user experience, and physiological responses were recorded. The results showed that while humans’ performances and evaluations varied as a function of the robot’s velocity, no differences were found in the physiological responses. Taken together, these data highlight the relevance of the kinematic aspects of robot’s motion within a human-robot collaboration and provide valuable insights to further develop our virtual human-machine interactive platform.

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A Review of Extended Reality (XR) Technologies for Manufacturing Training

Technologies ◽

10.3390/technologies8040077 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 77

Author(s):

Sanika Doolani ◽

Callen Wessels ◽

Varun Kanal ◽

Christos Sevastopoulos ◽

Ashish Jaiswal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Augmented Reality ◽

Manufacturing Industry ◽

Mixed Reality ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Comprehensive Review ◽

Assembly Task ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Current State ◽

Research Publications

Recently, the use of extended reality (XR) systems has been on the rise, to tackle various domains such as training, education, safety, etc. With the recent advances in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies and ease of availability of high-end, commercially available hardware, the manufacturing industry has seen a rise in the use of advanced XR technologies to train its workforce. While several research publications exist on applications of XR in manufacturing training, a comprehensive review of recent works and applications is lacking to present a clear progress in using such advance technologies. To this end, we present a review of the current state-of-the-art of use of XR technologies in training personnel in the field of manufacturing. First, we put forth the need of XR in manufacturing. We then present several key application domains where XR is being currently applied, notably in maintenance training and in performing assembly task. We also reviewed the applications of XR in other vocational domains and how they can be leveraged in the manufacturing industry. We finally present some current barriers to XR adoption in manufacturing training and highlight the current limitations that should be considered when looking to develop and apply practical applications of XR.

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Piecing It Together: The Effect of Background Music on Children’s Puzzle Assembly

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.1177/0031512517752817 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 125 (2) ◽

pp. 387-399

Author(s):

Louis Koolidge ◽

Robyn M. Holmes

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Early Childhood ◽

Task Performance ◽

Background Music ◽

European American ◽

Northeastern United States ◽

Assembly Task ◽

Music Selection ◽

American Children ◽

Puzzle Task

This study explored the effects of background music on cognitive (puzzle assembly) task performance in young children. Participants were 87 primarily European-American children (38 boys, 49 girls; mean age = 4.77 years) enrolled in early childhood classes in the northeastern United States. Children were given one minute to complete a 12-piece puzzle task in one of three background music conditions: music with lyrics, music without lyrics, and no music. The music selection was “You’re Welcome” from the Disney movie “Moana.” Results revealed that children who heard the music without lyrics completed more puzzle pieces than children in either the music with lyrics or no music condition. Background music without distracting lyrics may be beneficial and superior to background music with lyrics for young children’s cognitive performance even when they are engaged independently in a nonverbal task.

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Assembly task performance and ambient temperature: A reliability model

Reliability Engineering ◽

10.1016/0143-8174(83)90048-3 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 145-158

Author(s):

M.W. Riley ◽

J.L. Ballard ◽

D.J. Cochran ◽

C.C. Chang

Keyword(s):

Ambient Temperature ◽

Task Performance ◽

Reliability Model ◽

Assembly Task

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Virtual Reality: A Tool for Assembly?

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/105474600566970 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 486-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

A. C. Boud ◽

C. Baber ◽

S. J. Steiner

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Virtual Environments ◽

Haptic Feedback ◽

Object Manipulation ◽

Task Planning ◽

Input Devices ◽

Assembly Task ◽

Current Input

This paper reports on an investigation into the proposed usability of virtual reality for a manufacturing application such as the assembly of a number of component parts into a final product. Before the assembly task itself is considered, the investigation explores the use of VR for the training of human assembly operators and compares the findings to conventionally adopted techniques for parts assembly. The investigation highlighted several limitations of using VR technology. Most significant was the lack of haptic feedback provided by current input devices for virtual environments. To address this, an instrumented object (IO) was employed that enabled the user to pick up and manipulate the IO as the representation of a component from a product to be assembled. The reported findings indicate that object manipulation times are superior when IOs are employed as the interaction device, and that IO devices could therefore be adopted in VEs to provide haptic feedback for diverse applications and, in particular, for assembly task planning.

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Comparison of Dexterous Task Performance in Virtual Reality and Real-World Environments

Frontiers in Virtual Reality ◽

10.3389/frvir.2021.599274 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Janell S. Joyner ◽

Monifa Vaughn-Cooke ◽

Heather L. Benz

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Task Performance ◽

Real World ◽

Daily Living ◽

Task Environment ◽

User Performance ◽

Environment Design ◽

Testing Environment ◽

User Training

Virtual reality is being used to aid in prototyping of advanced limb prostheses with anthropomorphic behavior and user training. A virtual version of a prosthesis and testing environment can be programmed to mimic the appearance and interactions of its real-world counterpart, but little is understood about how task selection and object design impact user performance in virtual reality and how it translates to real-world performance. To bridge this knowledge gap, we performed a study in which able-bodied individuals manipulated a virtual prosthesis and later a real-world version to complete eight activities of daily living. We examined subjects' ability to complete the activities, how long it took to complete the tasks, and number of attempts to complete each task in the two environments. A notable result is that subjects were unable to complete tasks in virtual reality that involved manipulating small objects and objects flush with the table, but were able to complete those tasks in the real world. The results of this study suggest that standardization of virtual task environment design may lead to more accurate simulation of real-world performance.

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