3D Visualization of Discrete Event Simulation and Its Applications in Virtual Manufacturing

  • Zhong Yongmin (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Monash University, Australia) ;
  • Yuan Xiaobu (School of Computer Science, University of Windsor, Canada)
  • Published : 2004.12.01

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to create 3D visualization from discrete simulation results. This approach connects discrete event simulation directly to 3D animation with its novel methods that analyze and convert discrete simulation results into animation events to trigger 3D animation. In addition, it constructs a 3D animation framework for the visualization of discrete simulation results. This framework supports the reuse of both the existing 3D animation objects and behavior components, and allows the rapid development of new 3D animation objects by users with no special knowledge in computer graphics. This approach has been implemented with the software component technology. As an application in virtual manufacturing, visualizations of an electronics assembly factory are also provided in the paper to demonstrate the performance of this new approach.

Keywords

References

  1. Banks, J. (1999), Discrete event simulation, Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation Conference, 7-13
  2. Birta, L.G. and Ozmizrak, F.N. (1996), Knowledge-based approach for the validation of simulation models: the foundation, ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation, 6(1), 76-98
  3. Blanchebarbe, P. and Diehl, S. (2001), A framework for component based model acquisition and presentation using Java 3D, ACM Proceedings of the sixth international conference on 3D Web technology, Paderbon, Germany, 117-125
  4. Dessouky, M.M., Verma, S., Bailey, D.E. and Rickel, J (2001), A methodology for developing a web-based factory simulator for manufacturing education, IIE Transaction, 33(3), 167-180
  5. Elcacho, C., Schafer, Aa, Domer, R. and Luckas, V (1998), Performing 3D scene and animation authoring tasks efficiently: an innovative approach, IEEE Proceedings of Computer Graphics International, Hannover, Germany, 242-244
  6. eM-Plant reference manual (2002), version 4.6, Tecnomatix Tecnologies Ltd
  7. Fayad, M.E., Schmidt, D. and Johnson, R. (1999), Building application frameworks: object-oriented foundations of framework design, New York: Wiley, ISBN 0471248754
  8. Gennart, B.A. and Luckham, D.C. (1992), Validating discrete event simulations using event pattern mappings, Proceedings of the 29th ACMl/EEE Design Automation Conference, 414-419
  9. Geuder, D. (1995), Object oriented modeling with Simple++, Proceedings of the 1995 Winter Simulation Conference, 534-540
  10. Hamilton, G. (July, 1999), The $Javalseans^{TM}$ 1.01 specification, available online from http://java.sun.com/ beans/docs/spec.html
  11. Hoeger, H. and Jones, J (1996), Integrating concurrent and conservative distributed discrete-event simulators, Simulation for Understanding, 67(5), 303-314
  12. Kamat, VR. and Martinez, J.C. (2000), 3D visualization of simulated construction operations, Proceedings of the 32nd Winter Simulation Conference, Orlando, USA, Vol.2, 1933-1937
  13. Kamat, VR. and Martinez, Ie. (2001), Enabling smooth and scalable dynamic 3D visualization of discrete-event construction simulations, Proceedings of the 33rd Winter Simulation Conference, Arlington, USA, Vol. 2, 1523-1533
  14. Kelsick, J.J. and Vance, IM. (1998), The VR factory: discrete event simulation implemented in a virtual reality environment, 1998 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences, Atlanta, Georgia (CD-ROM)
  15. Kheir, N.A (1996), System modeling and computer simulation, New York, Marcel Dekker
  16. Klingstam, P. and Gullander, P. (1999), Overview of simulation tools for computer-aidedproduction engineering, Computers in Industry, 38(2), 173-186
  17. Law, A.M. and Kelton, W.D. (2000), Simulation Modeling and Analysis, 3rd Edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
  18. Luckas, V and Broll, T. (1997), CASUS: an objectoriented three-dimensional animation system for eventoriented simulators, Proceedings of Computer Animation, Geneva, Switzerland, 144-150
  19. Luckas, V and Domer, R. (2000), Experiences from the future - using object-oriented concepts for 3D visualization and validation of Industrial Scenarios, ACM Computing Surveys, 32(1)
  20. Mueller-Wittig, W., Jegathese, R. and Song, M., etc. (2002), VIrtual Factory-Highly Interactive Visualisation for Manufacturing, Proceedings of the 2002 Winter Simulation Conference, San Diego, California, Vol. 2, 1061-1064
  21. Nierstrasz, O., Gibbs, S. and Tsichritzis, D. (1992), Component-oriented software development, Communications of the ACM, 35(9), 160-165
  22. Praehofer, H., Sametinger, J. and Stritzinger, A (1999), Discrete Event Simulation using the JavaBeans Component Model, International Conference On Web-Based Modelling & Simulation, San Francisco, California, also available online from http://www.swe.uni-linz.ac.at/publications/
  23. Quest (2000), Delmia Corporation, http://www.delmia.com/
  24. Quick, J.M. (2002), Component-based 3D Visualization of Simulation Results, The Advanced Simulation Technologies Conference, San Diego, USA, also available online from http://www.scs.orglscsarchive
  25. Quick, J.M. (2003), Monitoring and Control of Systems by Interactive VIrtual Environments, 10th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Crete, Greece, 1101-1105
  26. Rohrer, M.W. (2000), Seeing is believing: The importance of visualization in manufacturing simulation, Proceedings of the 2000 Winter Simulation Conference, 1211-1216
  27. Rohrer, M.W. and McGregor, L.W. (2002), Simulating Reality Using AutoMod, Proceedings of the 2002 Winter Simulation Conference, Salt Lake City, USA, 173-181
  28. Salisbury, C.E, Farr, S.D. and Moore, J.A. (1999), Webbased simulation visualization using JAVA3D, Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation Conference, Vol. 2, 1425-1429
  29. Sametinger, J. (1997), Software engineering with reusable components, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-62695-6
  30. Shukla, C, Vazquez, M. amd Chen, F.F. (1996), Virtual manufacturing: an overview, Computers & Industrial Engineering, 31(1-2), 79-82
  31. Sowizral, H., Rushforth, K. and Deering, M. (1999), Java $3D^{TM}$ API Specification, available online from http://java.sun.com/docs/books/java3d/
  32. Sun, L. and Ning, R. (2002), The research on constructing of the virtual shop-floor environment, The Third International Conference on Virtual Reality and its Application in Industry, Hangzhou, China, 389-394
  33. Wenzel, S. and Jessen, U. (2001), The integration of 3-D Visualization into the simulation-based planning process of logistics systems, Simulation, 77(3-4), 114-127
  34. Witness VR (2003), Lanner Group, http://www.lanner.com/
  35. Zhai, W., Fan, X., Yan, J. and Zhu, P. (2002), An integrated simulation method to support virtual factory engineering, International Journal of CAD/CAM, 2(2), 39-44
  36. Zhou, H., Tan, H.S. and Sivakumar, A.I. (2001), Digital Models for Manufacturing Process Visualization, Proceedings of International Conference on Integrated Logistics, Singapore, 113-122