Using Immersive Engineering to design a new Aerospace product

By Jamie Tyler

Immersive Engineering in Designcenter NX™ software is the creation of new products without boundaries. We’re revolutionizing product engineering by providing the only fully integrated immersive design environment. It’s a way for everyone to interact with 3D models, or digital twins in a more intuitive and realistic manner. Designers, engineers and manufacturers can all benefit from Immersive Engineering.

Combining immersive technologies, such as VR, AR and MR with CAD software is providing game-changing, transformative benefits. We’re taking a look at how the Aerospace industry can benefit from these new features to stay ahead of the competition.

Aerospace powerhouses across the globe are facing a range of new challenges, including changes in consumer perception, resulting in demand increasing for more complex products. This added complexity is adding strain to traditional design methods; it’s increasingly difficult for designers to see hard to reach areas, particularly in the fuselage or behind the dashboard.

More importantly, it’s incredibly valuable to be able to visualize and walk around new aircraft in context and at 1:1 scale. This is always the foundation for any immersive session; having the ability to move freely is key. A clunky experience that takes forever to navigate a model takes away from the level of immersion, hindering efficiency in the process.

Immersive Engineering comes with intuitive, out-of-the-box controllers that makes navigating a model second nature. What’s more, for anyone viewing an immersive session on a monitor, simple navigation can be achieved by using any compatible controller, such as a Playstation 5 controller. Teleporting around your model enables perspectives that previously may have been missed, and capture any ergonomic issues long before products go into production.

The importance of Virtual Monitors

Virtual Monitors underpin a lot of the game changing capabilities available in Immersive Engineering. The use of Virtual Monitors make it possible to interact with models and uncover issues that can be overlooked when using traditional CAD methods.

Flexibility is key; Virtual Monitors can be re-positioned and resized to anyone’s liking. For anyone working in the Aerospace industry, a virtual monitor can be used to control simulations directly in Designcenter NX. Compatible with Mechatronics Concept Designer, it’s entirely possible to test ingress and egress ergonomics, a critical tool to evaluate air-stair clearances.

Collaboration is king

The ability to create new aircraft with precision is important. Never before have engineers being able to experience a products’ digital twin with such high-fidelity. Combining this with the ability to collaborate globally is paving the way for a new way of product design.

All stakeholders involved in a design review can collaborate, irrespective of whether they are using a headset, or operating an immersive session on a traditional monitor. The ability to explore digital twins in a collaborative immersive meeting space is enabling teams across the world to make smarter, faster decisions.

Capturing key decisions

The experience of conducting an immersive collaborative session is a game-changer, but how can participants capture their design decisions? There are a range of built-in analysis tools that can be used to validate requirements, enabling design teams to be able to fully assess a new aircraft design.

The Select/Transform/Scale tool can be used to focus on a specific part of an assembly, particularly for those that are hidden in hard to reach areas. Additionally, a Section plane can be added so those challenging parts are clearly visible for design reviews. It’s a critical tool in Aerospace as the interior fuselage can consist of hundreds of individual parts, each with their own level of complexity.

Perhaps a wiring connection is placed incorrectly, or a part is too big and needs to be changed? This information can be captured and revisited later using the markup and notes tools.