As one of the first manufacturers of industrial part cleaning equipment, Dürr Ecoclean uses Virtual Reality in training its global service staff to carry out maintenance support on its complex manipulators.
This first VR application was developed by Tema Technology Marketing AG to conduct maintenance training on the Scara manipulator developed by Dürr Ecoclean Monschau for its EcoCFlex 3 flexible cleaning cell. This allows the instructor and the trainee may be located thousands of kilometres apart.
For a realistic rendering of all maintenance operations and workflows, a VR model of the manipulator was created from CAD data. This model can be moved in all directions of freedom via slider bars. Every bolt can be slackened and re-tightened, with individual jobs logically structured and interdependent. For instance, in performing an oil change in the virtual system, the transmission cover can only be re-closed after oil has actually been added. This approach ensures people are trained in the correct and full sequence, so becoming “ingrained”. In order to achieve this, each service operative can move freely on a defined surface area in virtual space, e.g., by walking around the manipulator.
Says Michael Förster, CEO at Dürr Ecoclean, in explaining his company's decision to use VR: "This development is an important step in ensuring that our global service technicians will be perfectly familiar with their tasks and can provide excellent support to our customers in minimum time.”
