IPSI for V6 in 3D Experience - EST, Engineering Systems Technologies GmbH & Co. KG

IPSI for V6, or simply called IV6, is a new tool enabling interactive Assembly and Maintenance Simulation as well as streaming of Motion Capture data into 3D Experience. It comes in two different modules: Motion Capture for Assembly Simulation and Motion Capture for Human Tasks.

Based on Haption’s physics simulation technology IPSITM, IV6 "IPSI for V6" is a CAAV6-based plug-in for 3D ExperienceTM dedicated to interactive assembly/maintenance simulation and human tasks. It consists in two sets of V6 commands, appearing as two new toolbars:

IV6 MCAS provides tools for creating an interactive physic simulation session, managing interaction devices, changing object properties, etc..
IV6 MCHT complements IV6 MCAS with human simulation functionalities, such as calibration, grasping, etc.

Overview

Motion Capture for Assembly Simulation is part of the new IV6 system, and is a dedicated focus on interactive Assembly and Maintenance Simulation within 3D Experience software. More than creating physics in your environment, it will also allow you to make use of haptic devices (Virtuose, Inca, Able) right in your working environment.

IV6’s main asset comes from its realistic gesture of body physics, based on Haption’s latest physic simulation technology: IPSI. This add-on provides you with the capabilities to manage interaction between devices and set their properties, while still allowing you to use every base function of 3D Experience. You will be able to experience gravity, feel contact forces, record object motion in tracks, and have a precision up to sub-millimeters level in your very own virtual environment, just a click away from your session. Recreating environments conform to the reality is therefore really simple, and will allow you to do maintenance and assembly studies long before the product is created.

The integration of haptic devices straight into the software will allow you a deep interaction using 6DOF force feedback devices, such as our Virtuose, Inca or Able devices. More than touching the objects, you will feel them: collision on forces and torques, weight capacities, you will have the sensation your 3D mockup is finally in your room.

The simulation’s high performance will allow you to invite your operators from the workshop to ask for their feedback on your simulation, letting you the opportunity to adjust your mockup. You will also be able to provide training, either by giving a freedom into the virtual environment or by applying a certain guidance in the manipulation of the tools.

Motion Capture for Assembly Simulation works with any kind of data from 3D Experience – there is no need of conversion to make it work.

IV6 MCAS

IV6 MCAS lets you:

Work with any kind of Catia data: CatPart, CGR, STP, ...
Feel contact forces and gravity
Record object motion as Catia tracks
Control the precision down to sub-millimeter levels
Use any kind of haptic device (Virtuose, Inca, Able), tracking system (ART, Motion Analysis, VICON, trackd), 6D USB mouse from 3Dconnexion
Load kinematic constraints from V5 mechanisms

Motion Capture for Human Tasks (also called “IPSI for V6” or simply “IV6”) is a new tool enabling the streaming of Motion Capture data into V6, in order to animate human models in real-time. More than just a software connector, IV6 is a complex simulation software module based on real-time rigid-body physics.

The first benefit of IV6 is the ability to create new human skills, based on the real motion of a human operator. The human operator performs the task at real speed, and the system generates a Gesture Activity containing the sequence of postures with a high degree of details, up to 100 key-frames per second if needed. The Gesture Activity can be transferred into a new generic skill, which can be reused later on for building complex animations with a very high realism of motion.

But the real power of the solution lies in the first-person experience for the human operator. Through the motion capture device, he is controlling the human model as an avatar of his own body. When combined with a head-mounted-display (HMD) or an immersive visualisation device, the operator can see the CAD model through the eyes of the avatar, and manipulate objects with its hands.

Depending on the scenario, the avatar may have the same anthropometry as the operator, or a very different one. But even with differing body sizes, the system generates relevant postures, thus greatly simplifying validation studies such as reachability, visibility, accessibility, etc.

The core of IV6 is a real-time rigid-body simulation. As a consequence, the human model is not just a visual avatar, but a real actor of the 3D environment. It can pick and place objects, operate tools, push furniture around, etc. Moreover, the physics simulation ensures that the avatar does not pass through obstacles, but stops at their contact and slides on their surface. Therefore, the resulting animation is always free of clash.

IV6 MCHT

IV6 MCHT lets you:

Transfer the geometry and kinematics of a V6 manikin to the physics simulation
Animate the V6 manikin in real-time
Use the first-person experience with the viewpoint of the manikin
Attach haptic devices to the hands of the V6 manikin
Control all segments of the V6 manikin using a full-body tracking system
Compute contact constraints in real-time
Control of the manikin's hands using instrumented gloves, such as CyberglovesTM II or FingerTrackingTM
Record the motion of the V6 manikin in real-time, and store it as an XML file or re-use it as a Gesture Activity
Replay the motion with collision cues