Bombardier, Germany

Virtual manufacturing at Bombardier with ART tracking

At the headquarter for Central and Eastern Europe in Henningsdorf Bombardier has installed a center for virtual design and engineering, supported by Imsys, German provider of advanced visualisation solutions. Core piece of the many visualisation facilities is a Powerwall with a maximum of performance data.

The tracking solution

Five installations of this kind already form part of the Group worldwide. “In addition, we can visualize the simulation results of heat, cold, air currents and material deformations, as well as space requirements for passengers,”says Dietz. Accordingly, any modifications require only a few bits and bytes to be rearranged, as opposed to million-dollar parts, making both the assembly process and the final product less prone to errors.

Digital technologies are revolutionising many industries. No matter whether it’s an industrial plant, an airplane or a train: it is only when all components work together perfectly that the whole system is able to run smoothly.

The sooner errors are detected, the better – a fact that also applies to prototypes. Today, the production of expensive advance models can be greatly improved by using virtual test runs. “This way, development and installation steps can be accelerated, optimized or done away with entirely,” explains Helmut Dietz, Head of Digital Manufacturing at Bombardier Transportation.

Why ART ?

Reliability: You switch it on and the tracking works.

Easy handling: you don’t need any long training or too deep details.

Easy calibration: Easy to calibrate and re-calibrate.

Good investment: Security of investment by longevity of the systems.

Low maintenance costs: Because of the stability and reliability of ART products, we have low maintenance costs for the system.

Together with his team, Dietz defines, drives and supports the implementation of the Bombardier Digital Mockup for manufacturing directive. He ensures product quality meets customer needs by developing the standardized methodology and tools across the global organization. The collected data flows from the CATIA V5 design system via a product lifecycle management system into a virtual reality solution from the ESI Group that goes by the name of IC.IDO and contains tracking cameras from ART. “In the end, we can view the developed vehicle on high resolution ‘powerwalls’ – and even touch it,” says Dietz. Looking ahead, he wants to establish virtual reality on a global scale and, as a result, save up to 70 percent on prototypes – a welcome cash benefit for Bombardier and its clients.

Setup

4 x BARCO F85 WUXGA
Software: ESI IC.IDO
4 x TRACKPACK/E tracking cameras
Input devices: ART Flystick3 with ART Headtracking