VIRTOOL is an application that is part of the European Union supported project “Virtual Manipulation to Simulate Machine-Tool Processes” (VIRTOOL, CRAFT-1999-70292). The application is being developed by a consortium of two industrial enterprises (Alecop, IMH) and three partners in research and higher education (CEIT, TUD, ACM) from four European countries.The objective of this project is to design and develop a computer-supported learning environment for machine-tool processes by using interactive 3D graphics and virtual reality techniques. An integral part of this software will be an easy to use construction tool for the development of new 3D simulation models of machine-tools with the supporting learning material, which is based on a general instructional design model.

REVIMA is a virtual reality system for maintainability simulation in Aeronautics. It comprises both hardware and software developments, plus system integration. REVIMA required the design of a new haptic system. It is used both to track hand movements and to return force feedback that provides the sensation of working with a physical mock-up. The main software modules are: image generation, collision detection and control. System integration is based on two LAN connected PCs that share the different tasks and data.The visualization module has been built using low-cost graphic systems, and we have thoroughly analysed this problem to achieve a drawing frame rate acceptable for simulation analysis. The models comprise more than two thousand different elements that require about two million polygons to describe their shapes. Different organization strategies have been tested in order to achieve the real simulation goal. We also present the different visualization algorithms we have used.