A workflow for extended reality-based learning in engineering education

The integration of advanced extended reality technologies in the manufacturing and industrial context through the evolution of Industry 4.0 to the more user-centric Industry 5.0 paradigm guides the transformation of how end users access and control cyber-physical systems and real-time data sources. This is applicable both in real-world manufacturing contexts and higher education institutions, where future engineers learn how to design and manage these production systems. Extended reality (XR) has become an integral part of several aspects of industrial human-machine interaction methods, including diagnostic data visualization, teleoperation, augmented servicing and assembly instruction procedures, and safe operation of heavier machinery. In the educational context, XR allows for hands-on virtual activities, repeatability, and extended accessibility of limited resources before laboratory practical tasks. Since the pandemic, the digitalization of practical educational activities has been a central focus of pedagogical practices, leading to the development of specific engineering workflows. These integrate software and hardware solutions aimed at the implementation of XR experiences that fulfil the intended learning outcomes of the engineering product, process, and system design. In this paper, we present the design of an educational workflow for integrating manufacturing systems in XR-based learning environments. Two use cases are presented to demonstrate the relevance of the proposed workflow. The first provides an interactive experience that transfers laboratory teaching practices for pneumatics systems into an augmented reality (AR) application. The second focuses on the visualization and learning of direct kinematics methods for an industrial robotic arm.