An Omnidirectional System for Navigation in Virtual Environments

Part 8: Robotics and ManufacturingInternational audienceVirtual Reality (VR) is one of the newest technological domains with revolutionary applicability for the tomorrow’s Future Internet, including visions of the Internet of Things. The sensation of total immersion in Virtual Environment (VE) is still unresolved. Therefore, our work proposes a new omnidirectional locomotion interface for navigation in VEs. The novel interface was built from an ordinary unidirectional treadmill, a new mechanical device, a motion capturing system to track the human walking and a control method using artificial intelligence techniques. A neural network is used to predict the motion of the new interface based on user’s body motion and information about VE. The feasibility of the proposed system is verified through experiments and the preliminary results suggest that the new interface performs very well in a simplest VE based on our control method

Extended reality in the automotive sector: A bibliometric analysis of publications from 2012 to 2022

The present study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of publications related to “Extended Reality” (XR) in the automotive sector. XR is revolutionizing the industry in all fields, and the automotive is one of the sectors that has had much to gain from this technology and its components (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality). Articles on XR in the automotive field that were published from 2012 to 2022 were retrieved from the Scopus database. Extracted items were analysed in terms of the document type, document language, year of publication, country, authors, affiliations, sources, citations, keywords, and research domains. The open-source tool VOSviewer was used to visualize trends in research on XR applied to automotive. The analyses of 1584 documents revealed that the total number of publications has continually increased over the last 11 years. The country producing most of the articles in this field was Germany, followed by the United States and China. The most productive journal is Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour and the institution that issued most of the articles is Technical University of Munich. From the analysis of author keywords, the prominent research areas currently involving the use of XR technologies in automotive can be highlighted: virtual prototyping, design, manufacturing, sales, training, driver or pedestrian behaviour analysis, and ergonomics. More recently, terms like artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles have started to be used more frequently in studies in the field. The current study reveals an expanding corpus of literature on XR-based applications for the automotive sector using bibliometric methods. Researchers and stakeholders can use this study as a useful reference to comprehend the big picture and the state-of-the-art in this area

The Application of Augmented Reality in the Automotive Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Augmented reality (AR) is a fairly new technology enabling human machine interaction by superimposing virtual information on a real environment. Potential applications can be found in many areas of research from recent years. This study presents a systematic review of existing AR systems in the automotive field, synthesizing 55 studies from 2002 to 2019. The main research questions are: where AR technology has been applied within the automotive industry, what is the purpose of its application, what are the general characteristics of these systems, and what are the emphasized benefits and challenges of using AR in this field? The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the AR applications and technologies in the automotive field

How Augmented Reality Could Improve the Student’s Attraction to Learn Mechanisms

Mechanics, along with electronics, is a basic field for the development of high technologies. However, learning mechanics is not an easy task. To meet and adapt to the requirements of students in the digital age, teachers must provide them significant ways to incorporate the latest technologies and applications for their studies. In this study, we explored the application of augmented reality (AR) to improve the learning of the science of Mechanisms. An AR application was implemented and developed for Android-based devices, followed by a qualitative experiment conducted with a sample of 116 students. The study was based on the technology acceptance model and the students’ attitudes towards learning in AR environments were assessed using the structural equation modeling. The results showed that the didactic potential of this application is promising, which is highlighted by the positive attitude about using the application, as well as by the high values obtained for intention to use

Fiber Tensioning Systems in a Robotized Winding Procedure for Composite Materials Building Processes

The winding process of carbon fiber is not a new concept, but until now only a few studies have been made in carbon fiber tensioning and winding on complex shapes. The main purpose of the article is to analyze the possibility to conduct the carbon fiber winding using two industrial robots connected as master slave, one to realize the winding and the other to hold and rotate the mandrel, using an own design of an automatic fiber tensioning tool. To have control of the system a force transducer was implemented. The measured force was used to make trajectory adjustments for the robots, having a predefined trajectory. The results obtained from the experimental tests showed that the winding process with two robots and a tensioning system can realize fiber windings with variable tension in molds with complex configurations (3D) of the winding paths. In this way, compact structures of the constantly tensioned fiber bundle can be obtained, according to product requirements

Recent Advanced Applications of Virtual Industrial Informatics and Robotics

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to revolutionize industrial production through the integration of digital technologies, leading to the emergence of Industry 4 [...

Advanced Engine Technologies for Turbochargers Solutions

Research in the process of internal combustion engines shows that their efficiency can be increased through several technical and functional solutions. One of these is turbocharging. For certain engine operating modes, the available energy of the turbine can also be used to drive an electricity generator. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the possibilities and limitations of this solution. For this purpose, several investigations were carried out in the virtual environment with the AMESim program, as well as experimental research on a diesel engine for automobiles and on a stand for testing turbochargers (Turbo Test Pro produced by CIMAT). The article also includes a comparative study between the power and torque of the naturally aspirated internal combustion engine and equipped with a hybrid turbocharger. The results showed that the turbocharger has a very high operating potential and can be coupled with a generator without decreasing the efficiency of the turbocharger or the internal combustion engine. The main result was the generation of electrical power of 115 W at a turbocharger shaft speed of 140,000–160,000 rpm with an electric generator shaft speed of 14,000–16,000 rpm. There are many constructive solutions for electrical turbochargers with the generator positioned between the compressor and the turbine wheel. This paper is presenting a solution of a hybrid turbocharger with the generator positioned and coupled with the compressor wheel on the exterior side

Talking on the Phone While Driving: A Literature Review on Driving Simulator Studies

Distracted driving is a growing concern around the world and has been the focus of many naturalistic and simulator-based studies. Driving simulators provide excellent practical and theoretical help in studying the driving process, and considerable efforts have been made to prove their validity. This research aimed to review relevant simulator-based studies focused on investigating the effects of the talking-on-the-phone-while-driving distraction on drivers’ behavior. This work is a scoping review which followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. The search was performed on five databases, covering twenty years of research results. It was focused on finding answers to three research questions that could offer an overview of the main sources of distraction, the research infrastructure, and the measures that were used to analyze and predict the effects of distractions. A number of 4332 studies were identified in the database search, from which 83 were included in the review. The main findings revealed that TPWD distraction negatively affects driving performance, exposing drivers to dangerous traffic situations. Moreover, there is a general understanding that the driver’s cognitive, manual, visual, and auditory resources are all involved, to a certain degree, when executing a secondary task while driving

Augmented Reality in Cultural Heritage: An Overview of the Last Decade of Applications

Augmented reality is a mature technology that uses the real world as a substrate and extends it by overlaying computer-generated information. It has been applied to several domains. In particular, the technology was proven to be useful for the management and preservation of Cultural Heritage. This study provides an overview of the last decade of the use of augmented reality in cultural heritage through a detailed review of the scientific papers in the field. We analyzed the applications published on Scopus and Clarivate Web of Science databases over a period of 9 years (2012–2021). Bibliometric data consisted of 1201 documents, and their analysis was performed using various tools, including ScientoPy, VOS Viewer, and Microsoft Excel. The results revealed eight trending topics of applying augmented reality technology to cultural heritage: 3D reconstruction of cultural artifacts, digital heritage, virtual museums, user experience, education, tourism, intangible cultural heritage, and gamification. Each topic is discussed in detail in the article sections, providing insight into existing applications and research trends for each application field

Mapping the Emergent Trends in Industrial Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a rapidly developing technology with the potential to revolutionize various sectors of industry by integrating digital information with the real world. This paper presents an overview of the emergent trends in industrial augmented reality (IAR) over the past five years. The study utilizes a comprehensive literature review analysis of industrial studies (searched on two scientific databases: Scopus and Clarivate Web of Science) to map the evolution of IAR trends from 2018 to 2022. The results revealed ten trending topics of AR application: Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, industrial robots, digital twin, assembly, Internet of Things, visualization, maintenance, and training. Each topic is discussed in detail, providing insight into existing applications and research trends for each application field