Using Virtual Prototypes for the Education of Maintenance and Service Personnel

This paper describes the application of VR-based computer simulation in the field of practical training. It introduces a training application that is currently under development. The training application is designed to reduce the need for practical training with the actual object. Especially for complex equipment and machinery used in the ship building industry, a VR model provides an adequate instrument for mastering complicated service and maintenance procedures, such as assembling/disassembling of components or adjustment and setup procedures. The main objective of the project is to develop a general modeling methodology that can be utilized in a wide variety of scenarios, while minimizing the need for programming simulation source code. Added benefits, such as reduction of traveling costs and time needed for travel, can be achieved by the utilization of distributed simulation following the High Level Architecture standard.