HiNaviMec: hierarchical navigation of 3D mechanical models in virtual environments

As remote maintenance becomes increasingly prevalent across various industries, the ability to remotely inspect equipment and guide on-site operations has become crucial. Remote maintenance often relies on 3D models that contain densely packed and interconnected parts, presenting a significant challenge in navigation and comprehension for experts. To address this challenge, we introduce HiNaviMec, a novel technique designed to enhance immersive understanding and navigation of complex 3D mechanical models. HiNaviMec employs a connection detection algorithm for 3D models to establish connections between mechanical parts and generate the mechanical structure graph. The graph is then processed using a weighted graph partitioning algorithm to divide the overall mechanical structure into more manageable sections. For each mechanical part, we calculate the relational distance and disassembly direction based on the mechanical structure graph. Furthermore, HiNaviMec generates a hierarchical structure to facilitate understanding of the mechanical structure. A case study and a user experiment of HiNaviMec show that it improves the user’s ability to understand internal mechanical structures and helps users better understand intricate component relationships.