Maestro Wind Turbine Maintenance Simulation


  • 6 Students
  • 1 Semester
  • Unreal Engine

Context

During the first semester of the last year of my study at Saxion University of Applied Sciences, we were assigned to a project within a random team of students. After choosing my top-3 projects of the list, I became part of Maestro Wind Turbine Maintenance Simulation.
Our clients were members of the research group of Smart Mechatronics and Robotics.

The Team:

  • 2 Artists (Filipp Gofman & Jassim Johnson)
  • 2 Designers (Rares Orza & Joep Elferink)
  • 2 Engineers (Codrin Ilie & Me)

The aim of this project was to create a simulation in VR to experience the differences between wind turbine maintenance in person, opposed to using a specialized drone.

My Contributions

Though my main topic of research was Haptic Feedback, I was able to work on more parts of the project. Next to bug fixing, setting up the project and other smaller features, my most noteworthy contributions were:

  • The Bristle Blaster functionalities for both Human and Drone including
    • Proper Collision Depth Calculations and Evaluations
    • Mask Painting to be able to affect dedicated surfaces
    • Adaptive Haptic Feedback
    • Animations & Sounds
  • Climbing on a physics-based Rope
  • Material Shaders (Outlines, Landscape Diversity, Mask Painting Evaluation)

Conclusion & Results

This VR project, with the team setup, the client, and the research and assignment, has helped me grow professionally in many different ways.

Using Git and either Fork or GitKraken, I have become more familiar with what it takes to setup and manage a group project. Eventhough this has been also standard-procedure during other group projects, this time it worked exceptionally well, being tidy and updated throughout development. Being only a co-contributer to the Git and it's management in this project, I was still able to become more familiar with functions, features, and recommendations, when it comes to taking over this part for upcoming projects.

Also considering that my technical knowledge has improved by a lot, concerning material shaders, C++, and reusable functionalities inside Unreal Engine, I feel more confident in possibly tackling even more complex requests and projects.

Looking at the final product, this project was a full success. All features requested by the client were implemented, and expectations were even exceeded.


Research: Haptic Feedback

The main aspect of this semester, next to development, was to write a Research Paper in the context of this project.
In my case, I chose Haptic Feedback as a topic, describing its implementation and analysing its effects on the realism and feel of a simulated instrument.
Only Vibration Feedback was in focus.

Research Conclusion

Results have shown that eventhough Vibration Feedback is able to contribute to a more realistic feel of an instrument, this effect is not guaranteed. People experience this sensation differently, leading to various results. More important is the actual control and visibility of the instruments effects, making the core of the experience fun and intuitive. As such, the implementation of Haptic Feedback should be considered a supporting feature to an already realistic system, as opposed to the main-contributer to achieve realistic interactions.

Noteworthy Achievements


Strong Communication

Each of our team members was in close contact, and planning was updated regularly. This has also helped me improve in my own communication & planning.

In-depth Knowledge

This being a more technically advanced project, I'm confident in saying that my skillsets have improved. Functions and setups are easier for me to understand and explain to others.

Very Happy Client

Close contact was also kept with the Client, who was very happy with the resulting product. In their words, we exceeded their expectations, considering we were only a group of students.