Assembly Planning and Motion Study Using Virtual Reality

Carrying out assembly process planning tasks manually is both time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. Due to this, a great deal of research has been carried out on computer-aided process planning (CAPP) and computer-aided assembly planning (CAAP) systems. This paper presents two virtual tools called COSTAR (Cable Organisation System Through Alternative Reality) and HAMMS (Haptic Assembly, Manufacturing and Machining System) that both have an assembly planning capability. To gain an insight into the processes that occur during a design and assembly task, two time and motion study methods called therbligs and chronocyclegraphs have been utilised in both virtual tools to carry out the investigation. In addition, a brief investigation has been carried out to examine the time savings of using the virtual tools in comparison with the traditional manual method.