Composite materials are used increasingly across many industries because of their beneficial properties, with hand layup - layering the materials manually over a forming mold - being one of their most common forms of manufacture.
It is a skill that takes time to learn and with expensive materials, it is important to get it right. Existing skills development relies on a combination of job shadowing and experience gained with time on the job. The project seeks to change fundamentally how composites training is developed and delivered, reducing timescales and costs by using novel augmented reality and digital methods alongside e-learning training content.
In this project, a series of digital training scenarios will be created and delivered as part of an introductory-level course. The scheme of work, lesson plans, and objectives will then be created. Finally, the necessary digital materials for each course will be developed, including e-learning content, simulations, and augmented reality programs. In addition to the training carried out at the NCC, there will be real world college trials with trailblazer apprentices in order to assess the performance of the system and material at an example customer location.