2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress aims to contribute to research and practice by describing how Virtual Reality (VR) technology may be used to enhance conventional graphical (offline) programming and simulation in industrial robotics and manufacturing systems integration courses. While industrial automation and robotics have experienced rapid advancements in digital twin and simulation technologies, the literature for practitioners in engineering education remains limited. To address this need, we present an innovative curriculum and teaching pedagogy designed to provide students with an immersive experience through the integration of VR. This is accomplished using industry-grade software with consumer-grade VR headsets for programming and creating simulated robotic work cell digital twins. Student activities involve fundamental concepts such as coordinate systems, jogging, transformations, and path planning. These concepts are intended to provide the students with the essential skills needed to quickly transition to the development of application-oriented projects such as material handling, which can also be designed and simulated in the virtualized environment. This project provides an initial investigation into the following questions: 1) To what extent does VR support acquiring the procedural knowledge and motor skills expected in robotics programming? 2) To what extent does this curriculum contribute students' mastery of robotics programming principles and ability to apply these skills in complex tasks? 3) To what extent does this curriculum influence students' interests toward a future career in a related field? Preliminary results from an initial pilot test are discussed. Opportunities for future teaching and research are presented.