CyberLab

Consortium overview

IVF Industrial Research and Development Corporation (SE)

IVF is the leading non-university research institute on manufacturing in Sweden, including industrial training. The participating team of IVF has a long tradition in international cooperation and in European projects, e.g. actually as evaluator in VIRTUELA. Moreover, cooperation with Luleå TU is very close, particularly as both provide the two largest laser laboratories in Sweden, causing a series of synergies.

IVF will technically participate with its laser lab that is highly complementary equipped to Luleå TU. Moreover, IVF has installed one of the most advanced multimedia videoconferencing studios in Sweden, which will provide an essential impact to the consortium as lab training receiver.

Based on its excellent industrial network and relations, the ambition of IVF is to disseminate the present project idea with respect to industry to support and develop vocational training at highest international level. Final training implementation and dissemination in Europe at different levels from an early stage are key tasks to be controlled and steered by IVF to make the project a widely accepted and applied success.

Luleå University of Technology (SE)

In the role as project coordinator Luleå TU (on behalf of and in close communication with IVF) will lead the project management, monitoring, communication, production, implementation and dissemination. Luleå TU is a promoter of international networking, e.g. the project coordinator, Prof. Alexander Kaplan, has been (beside other European projects) project manager of 6 Leonardo da Vinci projects since 1996, then still employed at ARGELAS (AT). It is the strong ambition of IVF and Luleå TU to finally implement a network for sharing Europe’s best laboratory facilities in manufacturing. Therefore broad dissemination and networking all over Europe is clearly emphasized.

Luleå University of Technology will contribute with its extraordinary expertises in manufacturing, namely machining, laser materials processing and sheet metal forming (beside robotics being more traditional), and with the corresponding facilities of three large laboratories to the training curriculum, complementary to the partners.

As Luleå is defined an Objective 1 region due to its geographical disadvantage (located close to the arctic circle), it early focused on developing and applying leading edge telecommunication techniques. This has, beside other facilities and activities, resulted in a centre for distance learning and in Sweden’s most advanced multimedia studio for distributed learning and engineering.

Université René Descartes - Paris 5 (FR)

Paris URD is a new partner in the project and network, as from medical rather than engineering discipline, which will provide inspiring new ideas and angles of view. Paris URD will have three distinct roles in the project. As ergonomics during laboratory training is an essential aspect for the methods to be developed, Paris URD will contribute with its area of expertise in ergonomics and human factors to lead this task successfully. In addition the female contact person will critically investigate the aspects and advantages of the project method for women and for disabled or handicapped people. Moreover, Paris URD will investigate and demonstrate transfer of the developed method from engineering (manufacturing) to other disciplines, here to medical subjects (e.g. ergonomics). Dissemination will be conducted in France as well as in Southern Europe, and also with respect to the medical area all over Europe.

Budapest University of Technology and Economics (HU)

Budapest TU - Budapest University of Technology contributes to the project with its technical expertise in welding technologies, a traditional key subject for vocational training in metal manufacturing industry, but nowadays rare at universities (e.g. the last professorship on welding in Sweden was recently decided not to be continued, despite strong interest from industry). Another key task will be implementation and dissemination in Eastern Europe.

A particular expertise of Budapest TU in welding inherently is metallurgic microscopy. Therefore Budapest TU will develop the method of distant interactive microscope manipulation, a method that has the potential to become more effective than nowadays laboratory training. Moreover, camera observation of experiments bears a particular advantage in case of welding as it can avoid the large risk of eye hazards by the strongly radiating electric arc and by applying optical filters can even lead to improved observation of the experiment. In contrast to the European member states, eastern Europe often suffers from a lack of expensive high level laboratory equipment, thus distance laboratory training can essentially improve the quality of vocational training by the access to a broad variety of equipment. Budapest TU is willing to act as dissemination channel for the pre-accessing countries of whole eastern Europe. Due to a similar dissemination role as a partner in the Leonardo da Vinci projects DELTA and VIRTUELA, Budapest TU has already established a substantial database for eastern Europe that will be extended. Moreover, eastern Europe will be invited to the pilot course in Budapest.

NedClad (NL)

NedClad will act as regular evaluator in the project from the perspective of a typical high-tech SME with very limited capacities in training. Therefore NedClad will focus on modular training that can be selected according to the specific needs.

University of Twente (NL)

According to the same strong believe of both in leading international cooperation, during 2003 Luleå TU and Twente U developed a basic agreement for commonly advancing teaching on an international level, e.g. by developing an international exchange curriculum together with the USA. Twente U has large experience in European projects (e.g. the Leonardo da Vinci projects ELANET and VIRTUELA) and is highly active in international networking, which will be made use of for dissemination of the project results.

Ericsson Microelectronics AB (SE)

In the present project Ericsson will play a leading role in proposing, testing and evaluating different concepts for remote laboratory training with respect to ergonomic aspects, with particular emphasis on micro-scale applications relevant for mass production.

Volvo Car Corporation - Car Body Components (SE)

The whole target subject of metal manufacturing is of crucial importance for Volvo CC. Volvos main role in the project is to represent large companies with respect to their needs and capabilities for being involved in distance laboratory training. Volvo CC will correspondingly observe, evaluate and comment the project progress in a critical manner, to ensure a highest-level training impact for large-scale industry. In contrast to the microscopic scale of Eriksson’s microelectronics, Volvo focuses its didactics on large-scale products (cars).

The contributing team of Volvo CC, particularly its contact person, Prof. Nader Asnafi, has already been active in a series of European projects earlier. The project could also benefit from synergy activities on virtual environment that are in preparation.

Laser Expertise LTD (UK)

In the project LEL (similar as NedClad) shall reflect the needs of SMEs during evaluation of the developed training methods for a variety of employees, i.e. for engineers, operators and technical managers. LEL will, in cooperation with Nottingham University, develop the method of manually guided cameras and optimise the sound aspects for videoconferencing, including voice steering, which is regarded essential to enable smooth identifiable telecommunication in a team. Nowadays telecommunication often suffers from poor sound quality disturbing or confusing the communication.

The technical director, Docent Dr. John Powell, who will be the main person involved in the project, is a world known expert in engineering science. He also acts as academic visiting professor in engineering but also in music psychology and has participated as partner in several Leonardo projects (ELA, MESIMA, etc.). His highly creative but still practical ideas can essentially stimulate the project vision at different levels

The University of Nottingham (UK)

Nottingham University, having achieved excellent marks and ranking during the regular evaluation of British Universities, has unique equipment of highest quality in its laboratories, such as automated riveting robots for aerospace industry or the sophisticated flexible high speed machining system of Hexapod type, both being highly complementary equipment to the facilities at Luleå TU. A key task will be the differences between micro-scale observation in surface machining and macro-scale visualisation of robot motion.

Nottingham U will develop an acoustically/voice guided camera where the distant trainee shall instruct an operator holding a camera in a most efficient and meaningful way, which is a complex task. This method has the potential to become the cheapest and most powerful concept. The second method, a series of rotating/moving zoom remote cameras will provide a different angle of view. Both methods will be developed together with LEL.