Development of an Extended Reality-Based Collaborative Platform for Engineering Education: Operator 5.0
Dimitris Mourtzis, John Angelopoulos
Abstract
With the shift towards the human centric, sustainable, and resilient Industry 5.0, the need for training operators in complex industrial systems has become increasingly crucial. This paper explores the significance of collaborative extended reality (XR)-based engineering education in the preparation of the next generation of operators, denoted as Operator 5.0. By leveraging immersive technologies, operators can gain hands-on training experience in virtual or augmented environments. By incorporating these elements, operators can undergo comprehensive and personalized training, resulting in improved performance, reduced downtime, enhanced safety, and increased operational efficiency. Additionally, the framework is tested within a laboratory environment in three different case studies, focusing on maintenance and repair operations in the context of modern manufacturing in order to test its functionalities. Therefore, in this research, the current developments have been debugged and examined in order to test all of the functionalities of the digital platform so that the revised and improved version of the digital platform can be tested with a wider industrial and educational audience.