AkzoNobel Applies VR To Paint Training Process - Aviation International News

Learning the creation of coating craft is challenging and tin devour invaluable clip and costly resources. To assistance amended the grooming process, overgarment shaper AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings (Booth 3557) has adopted the virtual world (VR)-based grooming strategy developed by Virtual Paint Products.

“Typically, erstwhile a lawsuit asks for training, we person to supply important quantities of paint, overmuch of which is wasted,” said Matthew Amick, AkzoNobel planetary method services manager. “By efficaciously moving the spray booth into the classroom, we wholly destruct waste, trim costs and unnecessary shipping, and forestall volatile integrated compounds [VOCs] from being released. There are besides nary costs associated with cleaning the spray guns, oregon the further VOCs released from the solvents required, oregon successful providing the panels needed for bedewed overgarment training. It’s a ‘win win’ for each involved.”

The VR grooming is designed to replicate the overgarment shop’s accumulation situation and the usage of aggregate coating systems. Testing of the grooming strategy was done astatine AkzoNobel’s grooming halfway successful Troy, Michigan.

The portable grooming portion consists of a VR headset and spray weapon controller connected to a laptop computer. While wearing the headset, the trainee is immersed successful a virtual overgarment booth and is capable to usage the spray weapon controller to use overgarment to small parts and large-scale assemblies, arsenic good arsenic successful a emblematic overgarment store accumulation floor.

According to AkzoNobel, “The strategy tin beryllium programmed with assorted overgarment specifications, specified arsenic the thickness of the coating required, and arsenic the relation uses the spray gun, they tin spot whether excessively overmuch oregon excessively small overgarment is utilized and look for inconsistencies successful the mode the coating is being applied.”

During the grooming sessions, the strategy measures the trainee’s halfway skills, including mounting up the spraying league and whether the trainee is spraying astatine the close distance, angle, and speed. “The feedback is immediate, truthful trainees tin respond rapidly and alteration their method to go much consistent. It volition amusement wherever runs and sags occur, oregon wherever the bedewed movie thickness is not capable oregon the sum inadequate to present a creaseless finish. It besides helps them debar communal problems specified arsenic overgarment overlap.”

“The grooming is not lone utile for onboarding caller apprentices, but it is besides large for teaching precocious skills to much experienced operators,” said Jeremiah Treloar, CEO of Virtual Paint Products. “They tin signifier spraying much challenging parts with rivets, awkward corners, and curves, and successful a moving accumulation line. It efficaciously enables the creator to ‘walk’ the portion earlier spraying bedewed worldly connected it, and successful doing so, it helps trim the likelihood of defects. It besides helps experienced painters to teach new painters techniques connected hard parts oregon assemblies.

“If an apprentice oregon experienced trainee is struggling to recognize however to amended their technique, the manager tin replay a video of the league and speech them done it. Additional grooming tools and videos incorporated into the strategy besides amended the grooming prime and, ultimately, the prime of the workforce. Trainees utilizing the strategy are afloat certified to craft manufacture standards.”