Research On Virtual Reality Technology And Its Application In The Course Teaching Of The Traditional Machine Tools Maintenance

The traditional machine tools maintenance is the basic knowledge and skills which mechanic-electricity majors must master in higher vocational colleges. The course "Traditional Machine Tools Disassembly and Assembly" is a professional compulsory course for mechanic-electricity majors. The traditional teaching methods are widely applied as follows. Firstly, a video is played about traditional machine tools maintenance, and some flip charts are explained, which will help students understand the structure of traditional machine tools and the working principle. Secondly, the teacher will do the on-the-spot teaching, demonstrating repeatedly the process of disassembling the traditional machine tools in the actual production, breaking them down into different parts, and assembling the machine tools. Finally, the students manage to practice training by themselves.However, there are several shortcomings in these teaching methods. To make sure the students can master the structures of the machine tools, the maintenance procedures and methods, and especially the safety precautions, teachers need to repeat the demonstration of disassembly and assembly over and over again, thus prolonging the teaching time. On one hand, higher vocational colleges are short of real machine tools with a complete structure. On the other hand, there are a large number of mechanic-electricity students in higher vocational colleges. Such being the case, students have to practice training in groups, reducing the efficiency of teaching. Students’insufficient knowledge of the structures of the machine tools as well as their failure to remember the maintenance procedures and methods will cause the following problems, for example, the students are not able to recover the machine accuracy, or they will damage the parts, incurring high teaching cost and hidden safety hazards.With the development of computer simulation technology, virtual reality technology has come true, which provides a powerful tool for simulation teaching of machine tools. In order to improve teaching efficiency and operational safety of teachers and students, and to save the teaching cost, this dissertation integrates this virtual reality technology into the teaching. Based on a lathe CA6140from a certain lathe plant, a virtual machine disassembly and assembly system was created, so that students not only understand the structure of the machine tools as well as the disassembly and assembly procedures and methods, but they can practice virtual disassembling and assembling as well. In this way, the students will be fully aware of the structure of the machine tools, the procedure of disassembling and assembling, the losses will be minimized in the subsequent on-the-spot operation, a sound foundation will be established for the safe operation, and above all, the students’ interest and curiosity will be aroused.