Augmented reality - data assists workers

Digital technologies like augmented reality are designed to provide people with long-term, intelligent assistance in their activities. As such, they will soon become an indispensable part of the modern working environment.

Augmented reality alone has many wide-ranging areas of application: Its greatest benefit lies in the visual support it provides during assembly processes and when presenting products in the real world later on. Mistakes can thereby be prevented more easily, increasing the quality of products.

How will a future product affect your environment? How and where can it be perfectly integrated into your process? Thanks to AR-based product presentations, digital twins allow users to visualize products in their future, real-world environments. This mixed reality helps customers and users better visualize how new products are used.

Industry 4.0 - Augmented Reality

The video is loading...

In Industry 4.0 Augmented Reality supports to visualize the assembly steps

Using handheld and smartglasses systems, we use the capabilities of augmented reality to assist workers from an early stage – and even from familiarization. Here, we present the necessary information, the objects to be installed, or the work steps in a manner that is contextually appropriate for the device to be assembled. Using the digital integration of the product data, we generate a digital twin that comprises digital components, which are put together in the assembly sequence to form the finished product. In this way, the employer sees, in the augmented reality environment, what to install, where, and how in real life and how the product should look like – thus, the employee can regularly check the result in the quality control loop.

Using HoloLens, for instance, we provide assembly workers with important, contextualized information about the next step in a given work process. Gesture and voice controls can be used to confirm the individual steps in a process and initiate the next one.

But that isn’t the only support we offer during the assembly process. We use the tablets installed on our assembly assistants to enable technicians to visualize order data and the components to be assembled. Technicians can also use them to view assembly videos, e.g. for special designs.

Technicians pick the required parts, such as gear wheels and shafts, from the relevant compartments in their assembly cell. To ensure that the correct individual parts are always used, the assembly assistant communicates with the rack system and Pick-by-Light highlights the corresponding compartment for the worker. Once they have picked the part, they confirm completion of the picking operation on the rack compartment.

Given that many hundreds of designs can be built at an assembly cell, and workers can “jump” from cell to cell during peaks in order volume, this makes work a lot easier since, after all, it is impossible to tell at first glance how many teeth the required gear wheel has. 120, 125 or 140?

In the digital factory of the future, the provision of information will provide people with optimum support. Here: Assembly instructions and order data for live assembly of MOVI‑C^® inverters.

Remote assistance makes experts available worldwide, thereby making it possible to immediately perform analyses and take action. In remote assistance, the video transmission is enhanced by virtual content. It assists and facilitates communication between the on-site service engineer and the experts at SEW‑EURODRIVE.