Augmented reality in an industrial context

The rise of digital technologies and the digital transformation of industries through the key technologies of industry 4.0 and the digital factory, such as augmented reality (AR), connected objects (IoT), PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and CAD tools or digital twins, are driving strong interest in the development of augmented reality assistance tools in an industrial context.

The uses of augmented reality in industry apply to several fields such as :

• assistance in carrying out maintenance or assembly operations, by providing contextualized instructions and information on the procedures to be implemented. This assistance can be based on synchronous collaboration modes, with augmented reality interfaces enhancing interaction between operator and expert;

• training on a physical system that is not available, with this learning environment complementing virtual reality environments, particularly in terms of representation and interaction between participants;

• applications in logistics and production kit or order preparation;

• using information from the augmented reality device to check the conformity of parts against 3D drawings, or for quality control of assembly operations.

However, many projects are still at the "proof of concept" stage, and a number of questions remain:

• on the technical side :

  • what type of rendering device should I use?

  • depend on how it's used?

  • which tracking algorithms to choose?

  • are there any constraints on their implementation?

• in terms of skills and data :

  • what skills are needed to implement these tools?

  • what are the company's data organization requirements?

  • how do I update the content associated with augmented reality?

• feedback: how can we assess the contribution of these technologies?

Faced with these challenges, and with the rapid evolution of technologies and software offerings in this field, we present a number of ideas for approaching projects involving the integration of digital tools based on augmented reality in industrial applications.