TSU and Rubius created a VR tool for finding design errors

The TSU VR/AR laboratory at the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (IAMCS) developed a prototype of a system that uses the capabilities of "end-to-end" technologies to identify defects in the design of technical objects. A joint project implemented with the university's partner, Rubius, is aimed at improving the safety and ergonomics of modern buildings and other technical facilities.

- Viewing 3-D models by immersion in virtual reality helps to better see design defects, problems of matching objects, and ergonomics,- says Roman Savitsky, project manager at Rubius. - This task is especially important when combining 3-D design models made by various contractors into a single, digital model of a structure or technical object.

As the application developers note, often when monitoring simulation results, there is a mismatch of the individual parts of the models—a piece of the neighboring room may stick out from the wall, sometimes there are some extraneous artifacts, or the parts of the structures do not fit together. The new system makes it possible to quickly identify such problems. Along with this, checking an object in virtual space at the design stage helps to evaluate the correctness of building a model, the validity of the use of various structures and materials, the completeness of modeling (that all elements are present), and other parameters.

In the current version of the prototype, error evaluation is carried out visually using control measurements. In the future, the analysis of models will be automated, so that the user in VR can view the defects found from different angles, record and classify them, and make comments for further elimination by contractors.

- Over time, the functionality of the system will expand significantly, and the results of research work conducted by students at the VR/AR laboratory, created with Rubius, will be used for this purpose, - says Andrey Pristupa, associate professor at the Department of Theoretical Computer Science at IAMCS. - In particular, at the moment, we are researching how to organize collaboration on a virtual object, during which several users can observe sections of objects in VR, discuss them, and make decisions.

In the future, the solution can be used to verify the technical safety of structures and evaluate their ergonomics. Also, even before the launch of the facility into operation, it will be possible to conduct staff training on site maintenance. As the developers note, this applies not only to buildings but also to other technical structures. Even before the construction of the ship, aircraft, or plant, it will be possible to train future workers in navigation and the rules of conduct in case of emergency or accidents.

Provided by Tomsk State University