3D and VR models in Civil Engineering education Co

3DandVRmodelsinCivilEngineeringeducation:Construction,rehabilitationandmaintenanceAbstractWhereeducationalvalidityisconcerned,aschoolofengineeringcanreasonablybeexpectedtoconstantlyupdatecomputationalresourcesinfrequentuseintheprofessions.Virtualreality(VR)technologycouldbeappliedasacomplementtothree-dimensional(3D)modelling,leadingtobettercommunicationwhetherinvocationaltraining,ineducationorinprofessionalpractice.Techniquesof3DmodellingandVRwereappliedtothedevelopmentofmodelsrelatedtotheconstructionprocess.The3Dmodelscreatedtosupportrehabilitationdesignemergeasanimportanttoolforthemonitoringofanomaliesinstructuresandtoassistdecisionsbasedonthevisualanalysesofalternativesolutions.TheVRmodelcreatedtohelpthemanagementoflightingsystemsinbuildingsallowsthevisualandinteractivetransmissionofinformationrelatedtothephysicalbehaviouroftheelements,definedasafunctionofthetimevariable.Didacticinteractivemodelsshowingconstructionworkswerealsodeveloped.Theseapplicationsallowthevisualsimulationofthephysicalprogressionofeachtypeofworkandalsoassistinthestudyofthenecessaryequipmentneededandhowitfunctionsonsite.TheintroductionofCADandVRtechniquesinschoolishelpfultostudentsinordertopreparethemtoconsiderthesetechnologiesasimportantsupports,laterintheirprofessionalpractice.Keywords:Engineeringeducation;3Dmodels;Virtualreality;Construction;MaintenanceArticleOutline1.Introduction2.3Dmodelsinengineering/architectureactivity2.1.Architecture2.2.Construction2.3.Rehabilitation2.4.VRmaintenancemodel2.5.LearningCADandVRinschool2.6.VRdidacticmodels2.7.VRmodelofthecantilevermethodofbridgeconstruction2.8.VRmodeloftheincrementallaunchingmethodofbridgeconstruction2.9.Learningaspects3.ConclusionsAcknowledgementsReferences1.IntroductionSinceitsinitiationanddevelopment,educationalsectorhasrecognizedinformationandcommunicationtechnologiesasanimportanttoolforenhancementandupgradeoflearningprocess.Today,theeducationalprocessincludesmanycommunicationtechnologybasedmethodsforteachingandlearning.Inparticular,inteachertraininghasbeenconsiderablyanalyzed,especiallyinrelationtolearnhowtousethistechnologyasateachingtool.Exposingteachersintrainingtothetechnologiesandexperiencesthatwillbeimportanttotheirprofessionalfuturecancontributetothedevelopmentofarangeofindispensableabilitiesfortheirteachingactivitieswhicharenotavailableinamodeloftraditionaltraining[1].Concerningeducationaltasks,theinteractionallowedbythree-dimensional(3D)geometricmodelscouldbringanendtopassivelearnerattitudeswhichareoftenfoundintraditionalacademicteachingsituations.Inaddition,virtualrealitytechnology(VR)couldbeappliedasacomplementto3Dmodelling,leadingtobettercommunicationbetweenthevariousstakeholdersintheprocess,whetherintraining,ineducationorinprofessionalpractice.Thisroleisparticularlyrelevanttothepresentationofprocesseswhicharedefinedthroughsequentialstagesasgenerallyisthecaseinthelearningofnewcurricularsubjects.Besidesthisconstantupdatingoftraininginthenewgraphicresourcesavailabletoandinwidespreadandfrequentuseinprofessionsinthefieldsofengineeringorarchitecture,theschoolshouldalsoadaptitsteachingactivitiestothenewtoolsofvisualcommunication.Infact,today,inpracticalsubjectsavarietyofengineeringsoftwareisused,butthisrequiresskillsandknowledgetodevelopeconomicalandfeasiblesolutions[2].Educationalinstitutionscanusecommunicationtechnologytoaccessinformation,asaformofcollaborationandcommunicationwithteachers,orasatoolforconveyingeducationalcontents,aswellasameansofonlineteaching.Acommunicationplatformallowsparticipantstoexchangeinformationaboutspecificdomainsandinteractandlearncooperatively,therefore,anaspectthatmustbeimprovedisthepreparationofdidacticmaterialstosupportteaching[3].Today,3DmodelsandVRtechnologyareusedinengineeringschoolstoaidboththelecturersandstudents.Theyofferstudentstheopportunitytovisualizetheengineeringconceptstheylearnintheclassroom.Gibbon,inElectricalEngineering,useslaboratoriescontainingoperationalamplifiersandaresonantcircuit,basedin3Dmodellingtoolsinordertoachieveabetterunderstandingofcircuitissuespresentedinformallectures[4].OtherexamplesofcomputeranimationandVRprojectssupportingtheteachingofengineeringstudentsareremotephysicsexperiments[5],simulationcontroltesting[6]andvirtuallaboratories[7].TheapplicationofVRintraining,bothsurgical[8]andlaboratory[9],arereferencesformodelsusedinprofessionalinstruction.ThistextintendsessentiallytohighlightthenewpossibilitiesthatVRand3Dmodellingcouldbringtoengineeringeducationandlaterintheirprofessionalactivity.3DmodellingandVRtechnologieswereappliedtothedevelopmentofmodelsinCivilEngineeringdomain:■Themainobjectiveofthepracticalapplicationofthedidacticmodelsconcerningconstructionprocessesistosupportclass-basedlearning.Themodelspresenttheconstructionofbridgedecksusingtwodifferentmethods.TheinvolvementofvirtualrealitytechniquesonthedevelopmentofeducationalapplicationsbringsnewperspectivestoEngineeringeducation;■The3Dmodelscreatedtosupportrehabilitationdesignhelpstooutcomethebuildinganomaliesandtoevaluatedifferentalternativesolu