Page 23 - MMI- Nov-Dec-2021

B oth virtual and aug- AR on the assembly line
product manufacturing
Any
mented reality (VR and
AR) technologies have a “In design, everybody I’ve seen involves putting together mul-
working in manufacturing is using
significant place in the manu- tiple components (often hun-
augmented reality in some form.”
facturing cycle and are bringing dreds or thousands) in a precise
real benefits to businesses on a Rich Rabbitz sequence as quickly as possi-
Principal Member of
host of levels. A look at where Engineering Staff ble. This is true whether one
VR and AR are currently being Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is manufacturing televisions
used by manufacturers and or car engines, and every new
what the near future holds. product requires a new set of
The first thing to note is that Design and visualization assembly instructions.
virtual reality is nothing new Both VR and AR bring incred- Emerging AR applications give
to large-scale manufacturing. ible opportunities for product new life to delivering real-time
Early adopter companies such design teams to shape and test instructions to workers on the
as Ford, Boeing, and Lockheed their designs before any phys- front line and can provide the
Martin have been using the ical materials are brought into opportunity for guidance on
technology for decades. But the process more accurately. all tasks and overlay images to
with the relatively recent de- Gone is the need for clay mod- make assembly more accurate.
velopment of new, more af- els or other expensive proto- Using HMDs (Head-mounted With the
fordable, and better perform- types; creating 3D assets in Display) or glasses, instructions relatively
ing hardware and software, VR can deliver extremely accu- and support can be always in recent
the pace of adoption across the rate representations of real-life a worker’s field of view, en- develop-
Manufacturing sector has in- products before a piece of metal abling hands-free operation ment of
creased rapidly. is cut, a screw is tightened or a and minimizing the need to new, more
Add to this the dawn of a suite bolt is fixed. check in at workstations, all of affordable,
of augmented reality devices In industries such as Aero- which increases productivity. and better
and applications over the last space and Automotive, as de- Rich Rabbitz from Lockheed performing
few years and the scene has sign reviews take place, the Martin detailed, “AR adds to hard-
been set for a real revolution in opportunity to test ergonomics the knowledge of the person ware and
immersive manufacturing. and safety features is hugely working – whatever point they software,
So, let’s have a look at where improved with the use of vir- are working at on [the] assem- the pace of
the technologies are currently tual environments. Most of bly line. They have this added adoption of
having an impact and what the the leading OEMs now rely augmented data that they can VR across
next phases of development, heavily on (Cave Automatic use when they are doing their the Man-
application, and usage look Virtual Environment) CAVEs task. It’s really proving to be ufacturing
likely to be. to enable their design teams to critical to get performance sector has
Many manufacturers are now continually test and adapt de- from these people.” increased
seeing the benefits that both signs with incredible accuracy. rapidly.
augmented and virtual reality The immersive nature of CAVEs New workforce
can offer in an industrial en- and the ability to create digi- recruitment, training and
vironment. From design and tal twins also allow for a much knowledge retention
visualization in premanufac- more collaborative approach to Because of the immersive and
ture, right through to enhanced design, which delivers real ben- realistic nature of VR, it is well
worker guidance and training efits. Elizabeth Baron, who led placed to enable companies to
during the production pro- Advanced Visualization and create real-life scenarios and
cess. New and improved ways VR at Ford Motor Company, situations that would either be
of using technologies across said in a VR Intelligence webi- impossible – or very costly – to
business lines are constant- nar, “Collaboration is the single replicate in real life.
ly being piloted and deployed most beneficial thing that the In an industrial setting, GE is
across enterprises. executive leaders at Ford saw taking advantage of this. Julie
in the potential and promise of Grzeda, Director of Global Lead-
AR and VR. Globally connected ership Programs and Universi-
collaborative working is what ty Relations at General Electric,
really sold the technology and revealed that GE has started
has provided the biggest ROI in using virtual reality to improve
Source: VR Intelligence our company.” its employer brand and show-

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