25TH ANNIVERSARY Things to come...
Augmented reality meets
Nick Greene from Mouser Electronics discusses future manufacturing technologies
I
n the late-18th/early-19th century, the First Industrial Revolution changed the world, paving the way for the advent of the steam engine. Nearly a century
later, the Second Industrial Revolution gave us electricity and the combustion engine. Another century, and the Third Industrial Revolution birthed nuclear energy, telecommunications, electronics and computing technology.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is arguably
the progenitor of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Smart factories blend intelligent automation, sensor technology and sophisticated data-driven software platforms. Elsewhere, IoT has empowered the entire supply chain, enabling greater visibility, better decision-making and developments all transpired within eight years – and there’s still more to come, augmented reality (AR). “AR is seeing increased use in manufacturing environments as a solution to many information access challenges,” explains Mario Sheppard, lead engineer for automation and manufacturing technology at Supernal, Hyundai Motor Group’s Advanced Air Mobility company. “The next evolution of AR involves pairing it with AI, establishing a relationship between real and digital objects by locating and interest. Rather than exclusively being an aid for humans, AR has the potential to serve as a raw data collection stream for AI and machine learning, providing superior information accessibility and solutions in
78 May 2024 | Automation industrial manufacturing environments.”
Unlocking the power of information driven AR can be summarised with a single word: data! The manufacturing sector is an systems producing vast quantities of information at any given moment. Process controls and logistics only add more to the stream, resulting in an environment where information is not always available when and where it’s needed.
“AR helps solve many of manufacturing’s informational challenges with the help of cell phones, tablets and laptops,” adds Sheppard. “The technology works by using a visual sensor or camera, a display device and software that presents both information and three-dimensional models. These are all available on modern mobile devices, many of which can outperform laptops.”
A smarter way to manufacture Even the most sophisticated AR platform has between the software and the real world, which triggers another problem – volume. Human beings simply weren’t built to parse the vast quantities of data generated by even a small manufacturing environment. The amount of work required to connect an AR solution with every corner of the infeasible. “AI-driven AR does not depend on human input to acquire new and accurate information about the environment,” says Sheppard. “Such systems could recognise
surfaces and establish anchor points for digital text and objects to reference and interact with. Whereas AR places a chair on system can see for itself and display the real- time background as the user moves through a space.” This allows the system to achieve several things:
and communicate information based on urgency rather than proximity to a human’s inventory, notifying humans only if the robot workers if they complete those tasks
supply chain.
“The interactions created by this technology could result in the perfect human–machine symbiosis,” states Sheppar. “Companies that recognise technology as an extension of human capability will have to understand that harmonious communication and decision making are paramount. An industrial environment in which information vision – an environment in which humans and robots collaborate harmoniously through the open exchange of information – is within arm’s reach.”
automationmagazine.co.uk
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