Using Teamcenter Community for Collaborative Projects and Competitions

Transcription

1 Using Teamcenter Community for Collaborative Projects and Competitions Alan Steeves 1 and Berhane Sertu 2 1 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CANADA. Alan@mech.ubc.ca 2 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA. berhane.sertu@utoronto.ca

2 Abstract As industry moves global and their use of collaborative tools increase, it is important that our students be exposed to these tools during their undergraduate education. There are however a number of obstacles that must be overcome when using collaborative tools as an element of instruction in higher education. Faculty and Staff time is limited, resources are scarce and student s course loads leave little time to learn new software. Despite these challenges, we have found the use of Teamcenter Community (TcC) and other collaborative tools to be manageable from an administrative point of view and that their use provides our students with an enhanced learning experience. Deploying collaborative software in an academic environment is much different from in a commercial setting. This paper discusses how TcC functions, its recommended setup and how that setup can be modified to fit an academic project. We will also show how we use Skype, Google Documents and video conferencing to complement TcC. Examples are presented that show how TcC has been used on small and medium size projects. For each project, we detail the problems we had, what we did to fix those problems and what we plan to improve. Both the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto have redesigned computer laboratories to facilitate collaboration and details of those designs are presented. 1

3 Introduction To remain competitive in a global market, companies that do large-scale engineering design require that their engineering teams be able to work across large geographical distances. This allows the companies to develop and make better use of local areas of expertise; to reduce redundancies in their engineering groups and to bring their product to market faster. To be able to work effectively in this environment it is necessary for an engineer to have an understanding of the tools used in collaborative engineering and it is the responsibility of engineering educators to provide them with those skills. There are a number of collaborative tools available. We are going to concentrate on Teamcenter Community to show how it can be setup and used as the main tool for collaborative design projects and competitions in a course environment. Other tools that will be discussed are Skype, video conferencing and Google Documents. Collaborative Tools, Their Installation and Use There are a number of challenges when trying to deploy collaborative tools in an academic environment. Faculty and Staff time is limited, resources are scarce and student s course loads leave little time to learn new software. There is also the misconception that these tools are difficult to install and use. Teamcenter Community The collaborative tool that is the core for our collaborative design projects is Siemens Teamcenter Community (TcC). TcC is based on the Microsoft Share Point platform and provides a web based, collaborative environment for sharing 2D and 3D visual data, documents, and presentations in real time. There are a number of components that make up TcC, but they are divided into three basic groups. There is a Database server used to manage the shared data, a Web server that is the user s interface to the database and a Conferencing server that enables application sharing. The Web server runs the Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), which are configured to work with the Teamcenter Community software. The Database server uses an installation of SQL to manage the WSS databases. The Teamcenter conferencing server is installed on a Linux or UNIX machine. This software has two parts, a server that manages user connections and a client that is installed on the user s local machine. The Teamcenter Community Installation and Upgrade Guide [1] lists a number of different deployments of TcC. Their minimum recommended deployment consists of four computers: 1. a Web server running Windows server 2003, Internet Information Server (IIS), Windows SharePoint server and Teamcenter Community 2. a Domain controller running Windows server 2003, Domain Name Services (DNS) and Active Directory (AD) 2

4 3. a SQL server running Windows server 2003 and SQL server 2000 or an UNIX or LINUX machine running Teamcenter Conferencing server. A deployment of this type is recommended for environments with up to 3,450 concurrent users. Other Collaborative Tools We have found video conferencing, Skype and Google documents to be useful support tools for our collaborative projects and competitions. We encourage our students to use our video conferencing equipment for their design reviews and team meetings. However, we only have one video conferencing unit and at times scheduling its use can be difficult. Also students at some of the Universities we have worked with only have limited access to video conferencing and that makes scheduling even more difficult. One simple solution to this problem is Skype. Skype is a free network based service for making voice and video calls. Skype allows team members to connect quickly to discuss problems and it is also useful as a way for student at a remote location communicate with the course TA. Google documents is a free service from Google that enables the creation and sharing of documents. TcC is the primary tool for the student teams to share information within their team. However, we have found Google documents to be useful as a way for the team members to share documents with the course mentors. Laboratory Setup The University of British Columbia (UBC) has a small computer laboratory that is dedicated to Collaborative Engineering. This lab has a number of computer workstations. They all have Skype, headsets and video cameras and the PACE support design tools are installed. The room also has a Tandberg video conference unit, a video projector and a computer controlled smart board. The smart board is used for tutorials and by the students for their design reviews. However, the modification to the room that makes it the most useful as a collaborative design facility has nothing to do with computer hardware; it was switching to fob activated electronic locks. This access system allows us to give students working on collaborative design projects unlimited access to the lab. Having unlimited access allows our students to schedule meetings around the availability of the team members and not around the availability of the lab. We also tell our students that it is their lab, they are the only people who have access to it and we encourage them to use it a much as possible. At the University of Toronto (U of T), they have modified their computer laboratories by creating small rooms in the larger rooms for use by students working on collaborative projects. These rooms have networked workstations and provide the students with a place were they can meet without being disturbed by students working in the main computer laboratories. Students have access to the TcC servers from both the wired and wireless network available in these rooms. The U of T also has a small laboratory dedicated to collaborative PACE related projects. This laboratory has video conferencing, HP workstations with the entire PACE application suite, Skype and connectivity to TcC. 3

5 Small Project Setup UBC has been involved in several collaborative projects and competitions where the number of students was fewer than 50. The minimum recommend configuration for TcC will support up to 3,450 concurrent users, so for these projects we simplified the setup considerably. We replaced the three machines running the Web server, domain controller and database, with a single HP xw4300 Window Server 2003 workstation that runs all three. The conferencing server software has to run on a Linux or UNIX machine, so we installed that on a SUN Ultra 60 workstation. The installation and setup took a day and it has been for used for the last three years. We currently have several hundred users and the response times are still acceptable. However, we are considering splitting the load across two servers. Small Project Example In the Fall of 2007 undergraduate mechanical engineering students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and University of Toronto (U of T) were given the opportunity to work together to complete a collaborative design project and competition. There were three teams competing and each team had four students from UBC and two students from U of T. The teams were tasked with the design of a simplified front suspension and given the general suspension dimensions, simplifying assumptions and values for the deflection of the suspension strut in response to an applied force by General Motors engineers. Our small project TcC setup was the primary collaborative tools used by the student on this project. Each student working on the project was given a TcC account and placed in a group corresponding to their team. Each team was given their own TcC web site with members of the team having full access to their web site and no access to the other teams web sites. Students who worked on the project report that they found the Document Management system and the Discussion Board in TcC to be very useful. However, they did note that for time-sensitive matters, was used as the primary mode of communication. [2] Students acknowledged the many benefits of video conferencing but the technology was not used much during the design phase, primarily for logistical reasons. The time difference, the conflicting schedules of each of the team members and the lack of direct access to the equipment at U of T limited the use of the equipment. However, video conferencing was used extensively to prepare and deliver the final presentations. [3] The conferencing server in TcC has application-sharing tools. These tools enable two or more users to access a shared application simultaneously from their respective computers in real-time. Control of the application can be toggled between computers allowing all remote users to interact, design, edit, and comment on a design or analysis in real time. Despite the many potential benefits of application sharing, it was never utilized during the student project. The students reported they thought the application sharing was only available at the 4

6 universities and because of scheduling problem, they never used it. [2] In fact they could have used application sharing for their computers at home. Lessons Learned In this Collaborative PACE Design Project, mechanical engineering students from the UBC had a strong understanding of solid modeling and design for manufacturing, while U of T students were able to provide kinematic analysis. Students from the two institutions were able to contribute to separate parts of the project because of the nature of the courses in which they were carrying out the PACE project. It was valuable for the students to collaborate so that these different areas of specialty could be brought together to provide a more thorough evaluation of the simplified suspension system and to ultimately provide an optimized design. Further, the project demonstrated a key benefit that collaboration of this kind provides: the ability to harness the knowledge and training of individuals from different regions to complete a single project. [3] First hand experience in the successful execution of such a project is particularly beneficial for engineering students. When these students enter professional engineering, it is important that they have an understanding of how to pool all resources, especially human capital, to complete work in as efficient a way as possible. There are two areas of communication in which students were able to excel through this project: technical and core competence. With the development of new communication tools, students need to become experts in using a diverse range of communication modalities. This project provided students with the unique opportunity of learning how to use the Teamcenter Community platform. Videoconferencing technology used in this project allowed students to learn how businesses spread across many regions use these new tools to work together. The technical competence developed by the students in these two particular tools is not limited to the systems used in this project; the structure of the project itself forced students to adapt to a new team dynamic, and to creatively use the new tools that were available to them. Students became flexible with the methods in which they could communicate with each other: the use of newer technology allowed for greater collaboration than with traditional communication methods. Further, and perhaps more importantly, students developed their core competencies in communication. Because of the limitations that were imposed as a result of constraints from time zones, conflicting work schedules, and the availability of videoconferencing equipment, students learned the importance of effective and efficient communication. Videoconferencing time needed to be used for situations where brainstorming or open discussion were required, while discussion boards or needed to be used for more routine updates on the status of work at both institutions. During undergraduate education, it is particularly valuable for students to learn the importance of effective communication; the PACE project allowed students to learn this in a realistic environment. The major benefit of introducing Collaborative Education at the undergraduate level of study lies in the realistic project experience it offers students. This project provided an engaging learning experience for students that allowed teammates to operate outside the confines of traditional coursework. Further, 5

7 because the design problem was prepared by industry partners, it offered a practical way to apply learning in a realistic environment. The project offered context that perhaps would not have played an important role in an academic project; for example, students had to coordinate their work to ensure that components that were used in design and analysis were economically viable and safe for use in the automobile industry. As this was the first time either of the institutions had participated in a collaborative project like this there were a number of challenges to overcome for the next year. The students reported that the preproject organization and communication of project requirements could be made clearer. Since two different academic courses were utilized for this pilot project, the expectations of the professors and administrators at U of T were different from those at UBC, resulting in the workload, time commitment per week, course weighting, and common meeting times not being equal among the courses. This created some tension early on as the students understanding of the project varied significantly between the two institutions. In the future, it is vital that the project has equal weightings for the students at both institutions. This will lead to a more balanced division of work and a better understanding of time commitment expectations. Common meeting times should be arranged beforehand to ensure good communication and management of video conferencing and computer equipment. The fact that our students thought they could only use application sharing while at the university highlights our need to do a better job of training the people involved to use the software. For this project we had instructed our student to work through the online help and self-pace tutorials to learn how to use TcC. This was obviously not sufficient and in future we plan to dedicate at least one lab session to learning the collaborative tools. In the end, teams were able to deliver successful final presentations. However, team cohesiveness was an issue throughout the majority of the project. It is very difficult to have an intertwined team over such large geographic distances, but it could be improved upon. First, videoconferencing should be used much more extensively. In conjunction with organizing the common meeting times each week, the videoconferencing time must be utilized even if no critical design issues need to be discussed. Videoconferencing allows for social interaction and bonding beyond just the technical details; this is vital to foster a successful, dynamic team. This project was completed before we understood the benefits of using Skype. Had we used Skype during this project it would have a beneficial affect on team cohesiveness. Medium Sized Project Setup While what we referred to as our small project setup can handle installations with several hundred users, there are a number of advantages to configurations that are closer to the recommended setup. For example, if you have access to an existing Active Directory Server or SQL server then you only need to setup a Web server and Conferencing server. This will allow you to use your existing procedures for 6

8 controlling the user accounts and using an existing database server will free you from having to setup backup schedules and other database management tasks. Medium Sized Project Example In the Fall of 2009 the Brigham Young University (BYU) ME 471 course was offered as a pilot international advanced CAx course. Other universities that participated in this pilot course included: University of British Columbia (Canada), University of Toronto (Canada), Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico), ITESM-Toluca (Mexico), and the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Students participating in ME 471 were divided into four virtual teams to work on the class design project. Three of these teams consisted of students from BYU, a Canadian university and a Mexican or Brazilian university and one team had members from all four countries. The class project was the conceptual design of a vehicle, with each of the teams responsible for the design of one subsection of the vehicle. The design of the project made it necessary for members for a team to collaborate across countries and for the teams to collaborate amongst them selves. Siemens Teamcenter Community (TcC) was the primary collaborative tool and it was used extensively. The teams used TcC as for their file sharing, discussions, calendaring and application sharing. It was also used by the course instructors to host the presentations, assignments and course assignments. The course also made use of video conferencing, Skype and Google documents. The first two laboratory sessions in ME 471 were devoted to introducing the students to the collaborative tools that they would be using to communicate with their virtual teams. These two labs were critical to the success of the course and are something that should be done during any course of this type. Video conferencing was also used extensively during this course. BYU has a video conferencing bridge that allows up to 40 participants to connect to a conference and each of the other universities has video conferencing equipment they could use to connect to the bridge. This bridge was used to deliver the lectures and labs. Point to point video conferencing was used by the teams for meetings and design reviews. Student also made good use of Skype during the course. All the students had access to computers with headsets and cameras. This coupled with Skype allowed them to communicate with both other team members and the course TA. Lessons Learned On a project that involves a number of universities who are spread across a number of time zones, scheduling problems are difficult to avoid. Through very careful planning, BYU was able to make the lectures available at time were a majority of the students could attend the video conference. However, there were times when the network problems resulted in delayed or missed lectures. Little could be done to fixes problem like this during a class so it is important to have a backup system like Skype or a phone conferencing system available. 7

9 BYU was able to make the course lectures available on YouTube, which provided a good review, but delays in posting the videos and YouTube s limitations on length in size limited their use. BYU is considering purchasing hardware the will be able to make videos of lectures available within hours of the class. This hardware should overcome most of the scheduling difficulties. The time commitment required for a course of this type should not be underestimated. At UBC, one of the people responsible for the course, noted that it added over a day their week. BYU had a TA for the course who was an excellent resource and who was available via Skype during his office hours. The students who used the TA all found him to be both knowledgably and eager to help. However, most students were reluctant to take advantage of the TA. When asked about this the majority responded that they would have preferred to have a local TA. For future courses we will provide a local TA to supplement any remote mentoring resources. At the start of this project, we thought having large multinational teams would be a good way to simulate what our students would encounter doing collaborative projects after they graduate. While this is correct, it may not be the best way to teach the use of collaborative tools. Unlike engineers working on a project, students have a number of other commitments and this can make scheduling meeting for teams that have members from three or four different universities difficult. In the Fall of 2010 BYU is going to reorganize the course and reduce the size of the teams to six members, three from BYU and three for another university. This should avoid most of the scheduling problems, but still give the students a project where they will need to use the collaborative tools. Conclusions and Recommendations With increasing globalization, it is not difficult to make the case for giving engineering students some experience using collaborative tools, but the implementation of those tools can seem like a daunting task. However, we have found that if you follow the Siemens recommendation for preparing your site and follow the installation steps, then both the installation and administration of a simple TcC site is a routine task. TcC is a very robust piece of software, but anything associated with an undergraduate course needs to have high availability. Therefore, it is important that you consider how the site will be administered, monitored and backed up, when you are planning the course. We would also recommend that at least one tutorial be devoted to teaching the student how to use the collaborative tools and to give them some experience using the tools. Using collaborative projects and competitions to introduce student to collaborative engineering can be challenging. However, despite these challenges, we have found the use of TcC and other collaborative tools to be manageable from both an administrative point of view and from a student prospective. If you are considering using TcC as one of the collaborative tools during a project or competition and you require some assistance with the planning or setup please contact Alan Steeves (alan@mech.ubc.ca) or Berhane Sertu (berhane.sertu@utoronto.ca). 8

10 Acknowledgements The successful delivery of a collaborative project or competition requires the dedication and effort of a large number of people. The authors wish to pay special thanks to PACE and the people in the PACE office. Without their efforts to supply us with the necessary tools, none of this would be possible. We would also like to thank the Faculty, Staff and Students from BYU for allowing us to be part of their pilot international advanced CAx course. Finally a special thanks to all the students from both UBC and U of T for their patience and hard work and for teaching us so much about the way things should be done. References [1] Siemens, Teamcenter Community Installation and Upgrade Guide. [2] Bastani, P., Pattani, R., and Pickles, T., The 2007 University of Toronto/University of British Columbia PACE Collaborative Design Project Proceedings of the 4th Annual PACE Conference, PACE Partners, Detroit, Michigan, July, [3] Mikkelsen, J., Steeves, A. Cleghorn, W.L., Bastani, P., Pattani, R. and Pickles, T. "Collaborative Design Practice Involving Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE)." Canadian Design Engineering and Engineering Education (CDEN). Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, [4] Siemens, Global Technical Assistance WEB site, [5] Ball, A. G, Jensen, C. G., Mikkelsen, J., Steeves, A., Alves, M. A. L., Cuitlahuac, O. C. Introducing Multicultural Virtual Collaboration to Engineering Students taking a CAx Applications Course, to be presented at 5 th Annual PACE Forum, Seoul Korea, July,