Collaborating on the Design and Manufacture of an Atomic Artifact Transport System: A Case Study in VRML As a Visualization Tool for Consensus Building

Abstract

Abstract We report on our experience using the Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML) to collaborate on the design and manufacture of an artifact transport system (ATS). Specifically designed for the purpose of transporting nanometer-scale dimensional artifacts at pressures ∼10−8 Pa, the ATS consists of a transport cart and an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) system. As its name implies, the ATS is to transport an atomically-accurate specimen created in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) laboratory to a scanning tunnel microscope (STM) laboratory across the NIST campus, where metrologists verify atomic-scale measurements. The project team involved between 15 and 20 participants — designers, engineers, physicists and manufacturers — and each individual was involved with the design and assembly of the ATS to varying degrees. After the project engineers developed their assembly models with their CAD tools, we exported the components and assemblies to VRML files. These representations were made available, via web browsers with VRML viewers, for feedback to project team members on their own workstations, which included PCs, Macintoshes and Suns. The port involved characterizing the simulation’s performance over a range of parameters such as processor capability, file size, VRAM available and graphics card capability. After meeting with the fabricators and physicists to determine the approximate assembly sequence of the ATS, we edited, augmented and animated the VRML files on a high-end workstation. By visualizing the animation sequence in a common facility with a videowall, participants were able to reach a consensus for the design and assembly changes needed. We conclude that VRML did help our team collaborate in the design and fabrication processes, although the technology supplemented, rather that supplanted face-to-face meetings. Our experience with VRML on multiple workstations leads us also to conclude that the language needs to be characterized to enhance easy development of engineering models and to achieve true and complete platform-independence.