The introduction of industry 4.0 initiated the vision of a smart factory with all the supplied characteristics of highly individualized processes connecting the real world with virtual reality. Collaboration between humans and machines has been desirable for a long time but the associated risks have been a restriction. The interaction between collaborative processes and virtual reality offers the possibility where new concepts and ideas can be developed in a safe and sustainable environment. The capability to reconstruct, evaluate and test new concepts and ideas without affecting the real world is desirable relative to the newly introduced awareness in sustainability. The purpose of this project is to investigate the possibilities regarding in what extent virtual reality can contribute when training operators, identifying possible improvements, identifying risks associated with ergonomics and assisting the simulation development. The projects associated company is located in Skövde and is regarded one of the leading companies within the vehicle manufacturing industry. The overall aim of the project is to develop a simulation environment using human-robot collaboration capable of interaction through virtual reality. Several limitations have been engaged in order to narrow the project scope down to a reasonable level. These limitations involve exclusively using Siemens Process Simulate software, HTC Vive for equipment regarding virtual reality and usage of Universal Robots UR10e as the collaborative robot.
In order to construct the simulation environment in a good way and achieve the project aims a suitable methodology has been developed. The procedure started with an extensive literature review and theoretical framework in order to obtain the necessary knowledge in the area. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used for gathering relevant information regarding necessary equipment and manufacturing operations. A summary of the collected data and theory resulted in a specification for the simulation environment prior to the construction phase. The two final versions of the simulation environment have successfully been able to achieve the project goals of training operators, possible improvement identification and ergonomics.