Pilot case TALTECH: Digital manufacturing

Under the framework of the TEFFIC project the pilot Digital Manufacturing was executed at TALTECH. The course is tought in the educational program of Integrated Engineering (BSc level).

The aim of the course was to develop the knowledge and skills for the applications of digital manufacturing principles that can be useful for the enterprises. There were four main tasks designed and taught during the course, including: Industry 4.0 trends and future technologies, Introduction to Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), Understanding of automated production systems and layout creation in the virtual environment, Robotic cell process simulation, Machine Vision: recognition of technological objects.

To transfer the content of the courses, different methods were used. Such as flipped classroom environment, online lectures and learning activities videos these videos were developed by FTO. The TEFFIC framework was implemented into the courses, which lead to achieving the predefined goals. The following observations and results were concluded from the pilot case:

• The pilot was executed as per plan. However, there were some changes in terms of organization due to the COVID-19, as our university premises was closed for the regular physical studies.
  
• The approach for the online lectures and exercises was executed via MS Teams. TALTECH Moodle – online platform was utilised for sharing the study material and feedback regarding the tasks. Findings in this mater are that students responded effectively to the change and adopted the online environment quickly.
  
• Students were able to learn how to create a digital environment for Virtual Reality (VR) using Unity3D. How to configure a robotic cell layout for production scenario and simulate the using Visual Components 4.2, how to use machine vision application for objects detection using YOLO V3. Furthermore, they had the ablility to gain the knowledge of application and importance of Industry 4.0 and the related technologies. How it can impact the business of a company in future.
  
• Computer lab and FMS & robotic demo centre (flipped classroom environment) were supposed to use to carried out these learning activities. But due to the COVID-19, the learning and lessons conducted remotely. Therefore, students provided the software application license key and other sources for the remote access of required applications to complete their assignments.