Guest: Liang Gong, PhD student, Chalmers University of Technology
“With a realistic model of the factory [in VR], actors affected by changes in factory layout are actively involved in the planning process”.
Virtual
Reality (VR) is fun to experience. But does it help make better decisions in
production? Liang Gong is a
PhD student at the division of
Production Systems, and is the expert of Virtual Reality
technologies adoption in his research group. Liang explained how computer aided
design (CAD) and simulation tools are great for estimating quantitative
measures in factory layout planning (such as travel distance from A to B). However,
such traditional approaches do not provide rich insights for detailed layout
planning, where qualitative factors such as safety and ergonomics are key.
Liang, in his three years of research at Chalmers, carried out three empirical
studies in the automotive industry, where he asked managers to evaluate different
VR integration approaches. Thanks to those studies, Liang came up with general
guidelines on how to integrate and use virtual reality technology for factory
layout planning.
Podcast Episode 6
Check out
Liang’s publications:
- Gong, L., Berglund, J., Saluäär, D.,
& Johansson, B. (2017). A novel VR tool for collaborative planning of
manufacturing process change using point cloud data. Procedia CIRP, 63, 336-341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.03.089
- Berglund, J., Gong, L., Sundström, H., &
Johansson, B. (2017). Virtual
Reality and 3D Imaging to Support Collaborative Decision Making for Adaptation
of Long-Life Assets. In Dynamics of Long-Life Assets (pp. 115-132).
Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-45438-2_7#Bib1