A virtual reality-based experimentation environment for the verification of human-related factors in assembly processes

This paper investigates the use of virtual reality (VR)-based methods for the verification of performance factors related to manual assembly processes. An immersive and interactive virtual environment has been created to provide functionality for realistic process experimentation. Ergonomic models and functions have been embedded into the VR environment to support verification and constrain experimentation to ergonomically acceptable conditions. A specific assembly test case is presented, for which a semiempirical time model is developed employing statistical design experimentation in the virtual environment. The virtual experimentation results enable the quantification and prediction of the influence of a number of process parameters and their combination at the process cycle time. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.