Virtual plants for cement grinding
Virtual grinding plants thanks to virtual reality technology
Teleporting oneself through the grinding plant at the push of a button with sub-second response time, moving tons of equipment with just one click, checking installation or removal of complete groups of components within few seconds: all this is no problem thanks to virtual reality systems featuring immersion, interaction, and real time.
Due to the stereoscopic representation of three-dimensional models at a 1:1 scale, the user can take a journey through the virtual world. The three-dimensional display of complete grinding plants is so realistic that the user feels like walking through the plant what may sometimes even cause symptoms of vertigo or acrophobia.
What may seem to be a mere leisure fun, has been applied on a professional basis in the everyday practical work at Gebr. Pfeiffer for several months now. Although we are far from fully using all technical options offered by VR technology, the benefits are quite evident. One big advantage of this future-oriented technology is the particular angle of vision of the viewer onto the virtual model, for example the person in charge of the plant layout. So when he starts working on the project, he can immerge into the model with his CAD system to view the entire layout at an early stage of the project already. But he can also have a look at inside construction details and optimize them right on the spot.
Another advantage is the option of global interaction within the three-dimensional space. The passing of borders within real time is just as easy as exchanging and working with others over continents irrespective of the location of the user.
This is really exciting. We’ll keep you informed…