Anyone who wants to can now produce their own vehicle in a factory on the ‘Second Life’ Internet platform. They can program the industrial robots, and transport and assemble the individual parts themselves. Learning platforms provide relevant background information. In the ‘transparent factory’, car enthusiasts can watch vehicles being assembled part by part, and a new system set up by researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA even enables users to try their own hand at producing a quad bike, a four-wheeled motorbike. They can switch on conveyor belts, program industrial robots, and paint the frame themselves. At the end, they can zoom out of the factory hall with their finished product without paying a single cent. Because the factory does not exist in the real world but on the Internet platform of Second Life, a virtual world through which users can move in the form of a virtual figure known as an ‘avatar’.
Second Life has grown steadily: While in 2007, between 20,000 and 40,000 people were simultaneously online at any given time, this number has now risen to between 50,000 and 80,000. In the factory, users first of all indicate which quad model they would like to produce. Powerful or fuel-saving? Black, silver or red? What type of wheel rims? They can choose from a variety of models as they please. Once their avatar has made a choice, production can begin. The parts list is sent out, and all components are manufactured, assembled and subjected to a quality inspection. The avatar can watch the production process and interact at certain stages. Learning platforms located at various points in the factory hall provide users with relevant background information. How is the production process controlled? How does a press work?
More information:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094704.htm
Second Life has grown steadily: While in 2007, between 20,000 and 40,000 people were simultaneously online at any given time, this number has now risen to between 50,000 and 80,000. In the factory, users first of all indicate which quad model they would like to produce. Powerful or fuel-saving? Black, silver or red? What type of wheel rims? They can choose from a variety of models as they please. Once their avatar has made a choice, production can begin. The parts list is sent out, and all components are manufactured, assembled and subjected to a quality inspection. The avatar can watch the production process and interact at certain stages. Learning platforms located at various points in the factory hall provide users with relevant background information. How is the production process controlled? How does a press work?More information:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707094704.htm