HEMO’s VR simulation being explored at a trade show.
With show season well and truly underway, an interesting collaboration between Artec 3D and industrial part cleaning systems specialist HEMO GmbH has come to light. In April, Manufacturing Quality travelled to MACH 2024, and we were taken aback by the magnificent machinery on display. However, we didn’t stop to think about the logistical issues these companies would face in the transportation of such systems.
While moving machines within a specific facility is simpler although not much easier, transporting them to different trade shows and exhibitions will require them to be crated, shipped out, and moved using freight transport. Not only is this damaging to the environment but also comes with a significant cost.
One of the machine 3D models featured in HEMO’s VR simulation.
HEMO, which specialises in the development of industrial part cleaning systems, previously transported up to 30-ton machinery to and from various trade shows and exhibitions. Now, the German manufacturer has come up with a solution.
About HEMO
Cleaning system specialist HEMO’s HQ.
HEMO GmbH was created when EMO Oberflächentechnik GmbH (founded in 1979) and Hösel GmbH (founded in 1999) merged in 2017 after being long-standing partners. Before the merger, both organisations had already established themselves in the parts cleaning systems sector.
Now, HEMO is a leading manufacturer relating to solvent and hybrid cleaning systems, which are designed to clean metal parts before post-processing or shipping occurs. The German company’s systems remove excess oil, dust, and chips. Although its solutions can be game-changing, weighing between 5 to 30 tons, they are difficult to move.
Artec 3D brings manufacturing machinery to the virtual world
A HEMO cleaning machine being 3D scanned with Artec Ray II.
Taking into consideration the size of its machines, HEMO were looking for a solution to help with its transportation difficulties. The German company contacted Artec Ambassador Algona, which is when the idea of digitalisation was born.
“With the number of cables and pipes, capturing the machinery would be simply impossible without 3D scanning,” explained Ramon Spiller, an Algona specialist. “It would take an incredible effort to model this manually, capturing the complete size of an object without loss of details due to interference geometries, for which there is no CAD data.”
However, this process came with three major challenges, relating to: precision, scale, and speed. This is where the Artec Leo and the 130-metre-range Artec Ray II came to the rescue. The Artec Leo provides wireless functionality that allows the user to capture hard-to-reach places. While the Artec Ray II can speed up large-scale digitalisation processes.
A final Artec 3D product was required to make the solution fully operational, Artec Studio. The software processes the data captured to ensure that meshes are small enough to run on either the Microsoft HoloLens or HTC VIVE PRO headsets, whilst also maintaining the detail required for the virtual world. Artec Studio enables scans to have optimised meshes that have lifelike textures, with Blender able to make minor textural and geometry changes. The final result is then exported as an OBJ file.
“Thanks to VIS (which roughly aligns various scans) Ray II already ‘knows’ where it stands, so it requires almost no preparation,” added Spiller. “If we had used an ordinary cabled handheld, we may have also failed to scan all necessary areas, and for us, Artec Studio is a major milestone in scan data processing.”
The final product and the future of VR exhibitions
A render indicating how the VR application could look with further development.
The virtual world that HEMO and Artec were able to design, and built by Unity, now resembles HEMO’s Technikum (Technical Center). The sparse space showcases the machinery to keep the attention of the ‘attendees’ on its systems. Visitors will be able to ‘walk’ up to the machines, inspect them, and make real-life decisions without actually seeing the product in person.
“Now, we no longer have to ship some machines to exhibitions. We can just take the glasses and show customers in VR,” said Christian Koch, HEMO 3D modelling expert. “We tried it for the first time this year. As people walked by, they’d say ‘What can I see?’ or ‘Can I try?’ It was a real eye-catcher!”
So far, HEMO has showcased this innovation in Germany, Mexico, and the US. However, the German manufacturers have no plans to stop there. HEMO is looking into digitalising more of its products and to experiment further with VR.
One potential future development may be remote, VR maintenance with HEMO able to diagnose issues “through the eyes of clients wearing goggles.” Additionally, the cleaning systems manufacturer is looking at branching out with the Apple Vision Pro and improving app integration with Microsoft.
“We have different parts and sizes of our machines which meet different use cases, so we want all of them to be available as 3D models,” concluded Koch. “It’s my wish to have one showroom where you can choose a product on a tablet at the click of a button. That’s my vision for 3D scanning and VR.”