Integrating virtual and physical production processes in learning factories

Scaled learning factories are industrial learning environments that provide production systems and processes for learners on a model scale rather than using actual productive machines. This approach has benefits as for instance lower invest, increased approachability and higher safety levels. At the same time, constraints for implementation of actual production processes and required abstraction levels from industrial processes are limitations. To bridge the gap between benefits and limitation we propose the integration of virtual production processes in a prevalent physical learning factories. Resulting mixed reality solutions bear the potential to combine real and virtual objects at the same time and thus extend the physical model environment with virtually represented processes. Based on an initial analysis we develop a concept using spatial augmented reality and a game engine based simulation to realize a virtual integrated production process. The theoretical concept as well as the technical implementation is described. A first evaluation indicates a high rate of acceptance by trainees and illustrates the benefits for learning performance.