Industrial Augmented Reality and Its Benefits
Industrial augmented reality (AR) merges computer-generated information with the real world. While VR disengages users from the physical world with headsets, AR overlays information onto the environment they’re in to guide them.
Digital AR work instructions allow workers to adapt quickly to product variation. One click updates all systems across an enterprise and ensures a consistent, standardized training experience.
Improved Efficiency
Using AR to display step-by-step instructions and guidance to workers can help them improve the quality of their work and reduce the number of errors they make. This makes the technology an efficient tool to implement when training new employees, as well as when helping experienced personnel learn more advanced manufacturing methods.
For example, when assembling a product like a headliner for an automobile or a food can, the worker must precisely know where to place padding, glue, wire harnesses, and other components to match the design. This is a tedious process that can be made easier with the use of an AR app. Rather than a paper-based routing slip, an AR solution displays all the digital information from the engineering office onto the screen of the operator’s tablet. This allows the operator to visualize the data contextually and interact with it, creating a tangible connection between the Virtual (the digital information from the engineering team) and the Real (the operation occurring in the factory).
Another way manufacturers can improve efficiency with augmented reality is through enhanced traceability. In addition to tracking cycle times and defects, an AR solution also adds manual data to the mix. This helps pinpoint problems in real-time, allowing the manufacturer to take immediate action to correct them and improve productivity. This helps the company avoid unnecessary expenses and ensures customers receive high-quality products that meet their needs.
Increased Safety
Industrial AR is a great solution for sustaining safety measures in factories and plants. It can provide employees with the right information and guidance at the right time, eliminating the need to look for and store manuals or documents on a physical desktop. This will improve their work productivity and reduce the risk of errors or accidents on the job.
As a tool for training, industrial AR allows workers to gain access to accurate 3D models of heavy assets or prototypes. These can be used to demonstrate assembly procedures, as well as the ability to view internal components of machines. This will help to reduce the number of quality problems resulting from mistakes or miscommunication during the assembly process.
The use of AR technology can also make inspections easier. For example, AR can digitise a floor map and show equipment locations and traditional inspection forms, making it easier for health and safety inspectors to navigate large facilities and track their progress.
Similarly, an expert or tenured worker can be linked to an onsite employee via AR so that they can help with difficult tasks. This will be particularly useful as a younger technician learns industrial augmented reality from their more experienced counterparts. This will enable manufacturers and facilities to retain their institutional knowledge while increasing production and reducing the amount of time lost due to training.
Simplified Training and Onboarding
The traditional training process is a long and complicated one, with employees spending hours in the classroom or at home learning information that they then need to put into practice. Industrial AR provides a dynamic alternative that can save time and money for businesses while also increasing employee engagement.
Unlike traditional training, where employees must take notes and try to put it all into context, AR allows them to view real-world environments through their tablet, phone or headset. This means that they can see all of the information industrial augmented reality they need at a glance. For example, if they need to learn how to operate a complex or dangerous piece of machinery, they can use their AR device to view all of the steps involved.
In addition, AR can help workers by making it easier to programme robots. Rather than using traditional methods that require the use of a desktop and a pad-like device, which can be difficult to operate, AR lets users program robot trajectories with visual cues, eliminating the need for a specialist trainer or lengthy training sessions.
AR can also provide access to manual process data, such as cycle times and defects, alongside automated data for a more comprehensive picture of factory functionality. This will allow managers to identify and resolve issues quickly, improving the overall efficiency of their production line.
Enhanced Assembly
With augmented reality, industrial processes are highly digitized. Digital work instructions appear directly in the worker’s field of vision, eliminating intermediate steps like looking at a routing slip or checking a screen and making it much harder to make mistakes. For example, in aerospace and defense manufacturing, where workers are building complex pieces with high variation and long standard cycle times, digitized work instructions reduce rework and improve process flow. [67]
With projection-based augmented reality (AR), vision sensors and projectors display virtual step-by-step interactive graphics onto any workspace. This is the most versatile AR solution and can be used in a variety of applications including assembly, picking and kitting, testing and inspection, training, and maintenance.
In addition to reducing errors, AR increases the speed and accuracy of tasks. For instance, when assembling a car headliner, the factory worker needs to know where to lay the padding, glue and wire harnesses. With digital work instructions, the employee is provided with an exact template to follow, so all the placements are mapped out within millimeters. This eliminates guesswork and the need for extensive documentation, which cuts production time.
AR also helps manufacturers meet internal quality requirements. By using a headset, employees can quickly access information that will help them identify and resolve problems such as incorrectly cut materials or faulty wiring.