| There is currently a vital need to improve effectiveness and efficiency of training technologies used in industry---especially in the areas of assembly, disassembly, maintenance, installation, and troubleshooting. Current training techniques vary from paper-based (books, manuals) to computer-based (presentations, web pages, on-line help, etc.) to immersive (VR-based) systems. This dissertation presents an integrated approach to create a Computer-Based Training (CBT) and Immersive Training (ImT) system in a unified manner to exploit commonalities and that is integrated with a Learning Management System (LMS).; We coin this approach iTrain, integrated Training. iTrain consists of CBT, ImT, and a learning management tool. The goal is to enable transformational change of mechanical assembly training through the creation of a new generation training ensemble. In this dissertation, the methodology, approaches, and algorithms for such integrated training systems are presented. Based on this methodology and these approaches, a CBT application that allows interactive training using traditional computer tools (keyboard and mouse) and an immersive application that allows interactive learning using VR devices have been both developed and integrated. These applications are integrated with the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) so that the training can be managed, tracked, and evaluated in an effective and efficient manner. A unified approach has been designed to manage common data such as model name, and model ID. A database has been designed and implemented for access from CBT, ImT, and LMS. This prototype integrated training system is presented and discussed in this dissertation. |
