The manufacturing industry is being greatly overhauled with technology. One such technology in this regard happens to be augmented reality in manufacturing. Essentially, augmented reality or AR stands for integration in real-time which entails displaying digital information to the user in their surroundings.
AR has several advantages in manufacturing organizations dealing with workflow optimization, reduction of operational costs, and increasing productivity. It is expected that the usage of AR smart glass will increase in manufacturing to 27 million by the year 2025. This article aims to bring out the concept of augmented reality in manufacturing.
Basic Concepts of AR
Augmented reality enhances the real world with MADE digital elements, images, sound, or any other sensory stimuli. In short, it’s the technology that merges digital content with the real environment in which we live. Comparatively speaking, it is quite different from Virtual Reality, whereby the space that is presented to the user is completely digital.
Difference Between AR, Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR)
- Augmented Reality: mixing digital components into the real world.
- Virtual Reality (VR): Fully immersing users in an all-digital environment, attempting to get them separated from the ‘real’ world.
- Mixed Reality (MR): This merges the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ worlds, allowing physical and digital objects to interact with one another.
How AR Works
AR needs some hardware devices on which the necessary sensors, processors, and displays are packed. Common hardware used to enable AR include:
- Smartphones and Tablets: Equipped with cameras and sensors to overlay digital information on the real world.
- Smart Glasses: Provide a hands-free AR experience by displaying digital content in the user’s field of view.
Software Components
Most of the magic happens through software that makes sense of the data that the hardware components throw at it. A few bits of key software are:
- AR Development Platforms: ARKit for iOS and ARCore for Android.
- Computer Vision Algorithms: These help in the recognition and tracking of real-world objects, in such a way that one can establish how the virtual objects are placed concerning them.
Types of AR Devices
- Smart Glasses: Have an inbuilt display for an AR experience without the use of hands.
- Tablet: Large display facilitates a more immersive AR experience.
- Smartphones: The most common form factor for experiencing AR through applications.
Applications of AR in Manufacturing
For sure, AR applications in manufacturing redefine the design and production processes of molds. Using AR, enterprises ensure that manufacturing processes at various locations increase in precision, collaboration, and efficiency.
On the other hand, AR provides real-time insights and interactive tools that deliver a smoothing process and associated outcomes.
Mold Design
It provides excellent improvements in injection mold design by providing the proper visualization tools that would enable the engineer/designer to view ideas. With so much ease, it can overlay digital models over a physical prototype, therefore giving ease to the engineer/designer to be able to easily identify and resolve the possibility of issues before production.
These visualization techniques involve issues regarding real-time variation in design, methodologies making it easier to work jointly, and location non-dependency in sharing and modification of designs.
Mold Manufacturing
In injection molding manufacturers, AR is the technique of embedding digital information into the real workspace. The production is thus made wholly efficient with higher accuracy as to streamline and minimize errors. The primary applications are as follows:
- AR-based assembly: Work online ordering via AR views direct the worker with the instructions to ensure the correct fitting of the components.
- Maintenance instructions: The work order is simplified in real-time and assists the workers in performing any required maintenance procedures by diagnosing and solving any issues.
Training And Skill Development
AR being an interactive training solution for the manufacturing industry helps the learners to be involved and exercise the AR setting to upgrade their skill sets and hence decrease the chances of failures compared to the conventional way of training.
AR In Training
AR in training allows employees to exercise in a secure, virtual environment that helps in the building of confidence and competency. It also ensures that employees develop skills safely because they will now not face any risky situation related to the training task. This is because it executes real-life situations without the influence of workers.
Benefits of AR in Manufacturing
Augmented reality has the huge potential to benefit manufacturing by driving efficiencies, increasing precision, and enhancing collaboration while reducing the total cost. Stated differently, the application of AR in these processes will help companies operate more smoothly, improve productivity, and get better results.
1. Higher Efficiency
As far as AR is concerned, the manufacturing efficiency is very high because the real-time data can enable the shop floor workers not to stop the production to go and get critical data.
For instance, AR could project onto the equipment data related to the performance or maintenance instructions of the machines, thereby helping to identify and solve a problem quickly. Since this information is in real-time, disruption is reduced to the least possible since production can go on smoothly without a single problem.
The efficiency of workflow and process management-the second advantage of AR-aids in optimizing work processes to reduce waste and ensure that the workflow is effective in terms of resource use.
2. Improved Accuracy
AR is one of the critical requirements in manufacturing processes, mostly those involving complex processes and the accuracy of high-precision products. With AR, the risk of human error is greatly minimized because workers receive guided instructions and visual aids in their immediate field of vision.
That means working without errors and mistakes, which would mean expensive rework or defective products, are minimized to a great extent. AR would provide complicated manufacturing processes with enhanced accuracy by showing correct measurements and instructions overlaying against or on a physical piece. In sum, the overlay, therefore, consequently translates to the fact that complicated works can be carried out with more accuracy by the workers.
3. Better Collaboration
AR realizes interaction in all manufacturing environments and goes further to collaboration that involves remote assistance or teamwork. In this case, real-time sharing of data and insights between workers and managers would be in a position to support better means of communication regarding the decision.
For remote experts, locations see exactly what onsite workers are seeing, then guide them through adaptive AR interfaces; hence, this bridges locations to improve teamwork on real-time collaboration for faster problem resolution. This, therefore, allows operations to be seamlessly carried out.
4. Cost Savings
Implementation of AR technology in manufacturing helps save plenty of costs resulting from improved efficiency and process simplification, with a reduction of errors to zero. This further ensures the lowering of operational costs due to the decrease in downtime and efficiency in working management.
Additionally, AR also cuts the costs included in training and maintenance, for it handles interactive hands-on learning and real-time support, which saves a lot of time and resources that could be merged into the process. This helps the organizations turn over some costs since in the meanwhile, the high standard proportionately does an upward shift in manufacturing products.
Conclusion
Modern day production is not about getting things done, it’s about making production perfect and getting the job done faster, smarter, and with fewer mistakes. By implementing AR in your manufacturing, you can bring the cost down and collaborate on a whole new level. Take it as some digital magic that can change everything about the way you manufacture goods!
