AR and VR applications will serve smart factories of some of the leading automakers.
While augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies have been in the limelight for many years, they are mostly making headlines for exciting new applications in the consumer realm. However, a closer look shows they have made tangible progress in non-consumer areas like smart factory environments.
The Covid-19 pandemic also forced the industry to reevaluate the manufacturing processes for safer and more efficient production methods. As a result, AR and VR technologies have been employed to improve plant operations and train workers through an interactive experience between people and a real-world environment where objects from a physical setting are presented and enhanced by perceptual information from a computer.
Besides consumer applications, such as wearables and head-up displays, AR solutions are now available for manufacturing operations, where they enrich real environments with valuable data to enable digital manipulation and interaction between the actual world and the augmented surroundings.
Likewise, VR is becoming an important tool in data-led design, manufacturing and verification processes. For instance, VR-based prototyping is now a key leverage in carmakers’ product evaluations.
AR on CAD data
In AR applications, illustrations complement real images that can be superimposed with CAD data to check the maturity of construction concepts and the correct installation position of components. Automakers like BMW are using AR applications to check whether components have the right dimensions.
BMW uses an AR application during vehicle concept and prototype engineering to speed up the process—from individual vehicle sections to complex production stages—by as much as 12 months. Here, AR goggles allow real geometries on a vehicle body to be overlaid with true-to-scale holographic 3D models.
It’s a key advantage that saves BMW time and money when integrating new vehicles into production.
“The AR goggles and CAD data allow us to find out much more quickly whether the production worker will be able to fit the component properly later on, in series production,” said Michael Schneider, head of Complete Vehicle at BMW’s Pilot Plant. Located in the Research and Innovation Centre in Munich, Pilot Plant can assemble both electrical and combustion-powered prototypes.
Here is how it works: CAD components files are dragged and dropped from the web-based database to the AR goggles, which the specialists use to reproduce the data in 3D and their original size in a realistic environment. Here, the AR application—controlled by hand—allows direct interaction with virtual components.
A simple hand movement is enough to modify the size, position and angle of components. Moreover, engineers at different locations around the world can employ multi-user mode to team up and review designs and concepts together.
BMW also uses AR goggles in training sessions for engine assembly units; visualizations guide participants through all process steps. Additionally, unlike a trainer working with one person at a time, three people can go through the AR training simultaneously after receiving quick guidelines from a trainer.
On the VR front, BMW is using digitized 3D factory data to bypass the digital reconstruction of structures and manual on-site recording at its manufacturing facilities. Honda is another notable automaker using VR technology in its electric vehicle (EV) prototyping.
VR for immersive operations
Additionally, BMW is employing VR in planning construction, plant engineering, logistics and assembly operations while using digitized factory data available in 3D. The German automaker digitally captures actual plant structures with special 3D scanners and high-resolution cameras to an accuracy of just a few millimeters. That facilitates a 3D image—or scatter plot—of production. When setting up workstations or entire assembly halls, BMW combines existing data with a virtual library of shelves and mesh boxes based on this 3D data.
Another automaker, Honda, is using VR to develop vehicles ranging from the fully electric 2024 Honda Prologue to the rugged 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport. It all began during the Covid-19 pandemic, when travel restrictions threatened the ability of Honda designers to collaborate with engineers on the design of the Prologue. Consequently, the Honda Design Studio in Los Angeles, leading Prologue’s design, accelerated the use of VR to bridge the divide among its global design and development teams.
Next, Honda engineers and designers merged digital content and physical assets in a cohesive way to interact with what they were experiencing and touching in an immersive environment, according to Mathieu Geslin, VR technology leader at the Honda Design studio.
“Honda Prologue was key to fully using VR in a data-led design process with clay modeling as the verification tool.”
Sophisticated automation
After analytics and automation, AR and VR technologies could be the next frontier to transform the factory operation and workforce. These immersive technologies are further boosted by the advent of Industry 4.0 and innovative product launches.
AR and VR technologies are also seen as a more sophisticated form of automation that integrates digital technology into manufacturing. The real-world data combined with interactive elements and computer-generated graphics creates a fully immersive 360-degree experience that could play a vital role in future manufacturing processes.
This article was originally published on EE Times.
Majeed Ahmad, Editor in Chief of EDN and Planet Analog, has covered electronics design industry for longer than two decades. During this period, he has worked in various editorial positions, including assignments for EE Times Asia and Electronic Products. He holds a Masters’ degree in telecommunication engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology.