A collaborative simulation in shipbuilding and the offshore installation based on the integration of the dynamic analysis, virtual reality, and control devices

• Main Authors: Xing Li, Myung-Il Roh, Seung-Ho Ham
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2092678218300220

It is difficult to observe the potential risks of lifting or turn-over operations in the early stages before a real operation. Therefore, many dynamic simulations have been designed to predict the risks and to reduce the possibility of accidents. These simulations, however, have usually been performed for predetermined and fixed scenarios, so they do not reflect the real-time control of an operator that is one of the most important influential factors in an operation; additionally, lifting or turn-over operations should be a collaboration involving more than two operators. Therefore, this study presents an integrated method for a collaborative simulation that allows multiple workers to operate together in the virtual world. The proposed method is composed of four components. The first component is a dynamic analysis that is based on multibody-system dynamics. The second component is VR (virtual reality) for the generation of realistic views for the operators. The third component comprises the control devices and the scenario generator to handle the crane in the virtual environment. Lastly, the fourth component is the HLA (high-level architecture)-based integrated simulation interface for the convenient and efficient exchange of the data through the middleware. To show the applicability of the proposed method, it has been applied to a block turn-over simulation for which one floating crane and two crawler cranes were used, and an offshore module installation for which a DCR (dual-crane rig) was used. In conclusion, the execution of the proposed method of this study is successful regarding the above two applications for which multiple workers were involved. Keywords: Collaborative simulation, Integrated simulation interface, HLA, Virtual reality, Block turn-over, Offshore module installation