Like many fields, such as medical or industrial painting, immersive learning brings many benefits to carpentry and woodworking education.
Before we look at the benefits of AR in this field, let’s take a closer look at the tool that enables this immersive learning: the wood cutting machine simulator.
What is a woodcutting machine simulator?
A wood cutting machine simulator is a training table that allows you to virtually reproduce wood cutting machines.
This simulator is intended for:
- Employees in companies who want to perfect their technique
- To trainees in continuing education or in work-study program
The most popular solution in the world is clearly the Wood-Ed Table developed and distributed by Mimbus.
Thanks to its sensors and immersive glasses, this tool allows you to control four different machines in augmented reality: the sliding table saw, the band saw, the jointer and the router.
Better than words, watch this explanatory video instead:
The carpenter/Cabinetmaker AR course helps students learn the proper way to cut wood and hone their skills in handling particularly dangerous machinery.
It teaches proper hand placement and perfect hand movements, all without the risk of cutting a finger (or two).
Of course, the wood cutting machine simulator has other tricks up its sleeve!
Let’s take a look at it.
Minimize the risk of injury
The most crucial asset of a wood cutting machine simulator is clearly the safety of the trainee.
Woodworking is a dangerous profession, especially when you are a beginner and have no experience.
You don’t know the machines, the positioning of the hands, or the precision of the gesture.
AR allows you to learn all these skills while making the learning process safer.
Chen the learner has completed the course on the simulator, he or she arrives in the workshop with solid knowledge.
This significantly reduces the risk of accidents and injuries on real machines.
Right to error
The trainee has the right to make mistakes. This is impossible with traditional training!
Imagine a trainee using a real band saw and leaving his thumb right in the middle of the cut. The result? A hand with 4 fingers.
With the wood cutting simulator, the trainee has the right to make mistakes without the risk of leaving a piece of his anatomy behind.
Andi if there is a mistake, the trainee and his trainer can watch a replay of his gesture and understand what he did wrong.
Then, start again and again, until the perfect gesture is achieved.
Student confidence building
When the trainee is ready to go into the workshop and make real-life cuts, he will have gained confidence and efficiency.
Indeed, when you start as a carpenter or cabinetmaker and you waste hundreds of cuts, your morale can take a hit.
Thanks to the simulator, the student arrives in the workshop with sure and precise gestures and will not have this feeling of failure which could lead him to give up everything.
Significantly reduce training costs
One of the major benefits of the simulator in carpenter training is clearly the economic factor.
The system allows to significantly optimize the training time and to reduce the consumption costs.
Indeed, the training of a student by simulator requires much less time than a training directly in the workshop.
In addition, the wood cutting machine AR training is completely autonomous for th trainee. The trainer does not need to be observing the trainee while he or she is practicing on the training table to supervise the safety of the trainee.
This means that the trainer can continue to work in the workshop while the trainee is on the course.
Add to that the savings made in terms of wooden boards!
The simulator is totally realistic and simulates perfectly the vibrations of the machine and the hardness of the material during the cutting process.
Simply that here, after a virtual cut, the board can be reused again and again, something impossible with a real wood board.
Analyze learners’ skills
As the learner goes through the immersive learning process, he/she will acquire skills to:
- Understand how the machines works
- Knowing how to place their hands when making different cuts
- Adopt the right speed of movement of the board
- Etc
With the Wood-Ed Table, you can analyse his skills via the Vulcan analysis platform.
You have an eye on absolutely everything!
You can evaluate the safety actions and the suitability of the cut/machine.
When you are satisfied with the trainee’s skills, you can offer him/her to practice with real cuts in the workshop with the certainty that he/she have real knowledge.
Customize each student’s journey
After analysing a trainee’s skills, you can identify gaps on a specific machine.
With the Wood-Ed Table, you can customize the course for that student to perform specific exercises and validate that skill.
You may also have the situation where a trainee continually puts himself at risk on the continuous router exercise in the workshop.
Here, you can suggest that he/she comes and practice on the simulator to perfect their skills before returning to practice on a real cutting table.
Conclusion
The wood cutting machine simulator can be used by everyone and at any age, within the framework of vocational training for trainees with prior knowledge, but also in the requalification or evaluation of employees in companies.
This immersive experience of handling wood-cutting machines significantly improves the training of carpenters and cabinet makers.
The Wood-Ed Table is safe for the trainees, totally autonomous and economical, and allows for a safe and effective training.
If you would like to learn more about this machine, we invite you to contact us and discuss it together!