PRODUCT ENGINEERING : TOOLS AND METHODS BASED ON VIRTUAL REALITY

This book contains an edited version of the lectures and selected contri- tions presented during the Advanced Summer Institute on “Product Engine- ing: Tools and Methods based on Virtual Reality” organized at Chania th th (Greece) in the period 30 May-6 June 2007. The Advanced Summer - stitute (ASI) was organized in the framework of the European FP6 funded project “VEGA – Virtual Reality in Product Design and Robotics” and was devoted to the Product Engineering field, with particular attention to the aspects related to the Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, its use and added value in engineering. The objective of the ASI was to create a meeting framework for leading scientists with PhD holders and advanced PhD students carrying out - search in the field of Virtual Reality Technologies, Haptic systems, CAD and VR integration, Virtual Testing and Prototyping and Virtual Manuf- turing. The aim was to create conditions for high level training through a series of 15 invited lectures presented by world reputed scientists, as well as to give possibilities for young researchers to present their achievements and to establish professional contacts. The ASI was seen also as an opp- tunity for academics, practitioners and consultants from Europe and el- where who are involved in the study, management, development and - plementation of product engineering principles in the learning and teaching sectors, as well as professionals to come together and share ideas on p- jects and examples of best practice.

This book contains an edited version of the lectures and selected contributions presented during the Advanced Summer Institute on "Product Engineering: Tools and Methods based on Virtual Reality" held at Chania (Greece), 30^th May-6^th June 2007. The Advanced Summer Institute (ASI) was devoted to the Product Engineering field, with particular attention being given to the aspects related to Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, and their use and added value in engineering.

The objective of the ASI was to create a meeting framework for leading scientists and advanced students carrying out research in the field of Virtual Reality Technologies, Haptic systems, CAD and VR integration, Virtual Testing and Prototyping and Virtual Manufacturing. The ASI was seen also as an opportunity for academics, practitioners and consultants from Europe and elsewhere who are involved in the study, management, development and implementation of product engineering principles in the learning and teaching sectors, as well as professionals to come together and share ideas on projects and examples of best practice.

As in the first ASI edition held in Romania in 2004, the topics have been chosen such as to bring together scientists from traditionally distinct areas of research such as Virtual Reality and Product Engineering, in order to catalyze cross-fertilization and enable new ideas in an interdisciplinary framework.