From gameplay experience to haptic-aided process planning

Process planning incorporating material removal is a critical phase in the realization of a product between design and manufacture where all the decisions are made and documented with regard to how the product is going to be manufactured. Any decisions at this point can have a major impact on final
cost and quality. While computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems are widely available, evidence suggests that they are unable to meet users’ expectations sufficiently as indicated by their low commercial uptake. This research investigated the reasons why and defined a systematic approach
for the cross platform evaluation of process planning systems with regard to their usability. A haptic-based virtual reality process planning was benchmarked against traditional process planning, enabling the development of a reproducible usability evaluation for CAPP systems. A method inspired from assessing game immersion was implemented to determine the users’
subjective perceptions of the two systems whilst objective data was gathered to capture unbiased comparative information and quantify any differences. A SWOT analysis was also carried out in order to obtain a deeper understanding of any issues found. Results showed that the haptic system was perceived to
provide a more user friendly and intuitive interface compared to traditional process planning, particularly for novice process planners. Additionally, all users exhibited less cognitive load overall when using haptics.