MR en AR maintenance oplossingen
November 18, 2020
Do you want to improve your maintenance & support process? Then discover the most common XR solutions.
Most common MR and AR maintenance solutions
Nowadays there is an increasing focus on innovating and improving the maintenance and support process for companies. The diversity in technological knowledge, which an employee must have, can no longer be kept up with by means of additional training. In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find properly trained personnel.
The desire for greater efficiency and sustainability is also making intercontinental flying obsolete. And the current corona crisis is forcing companies to innovate. Physically collaborating in the same location or having an expert fly over has become an issue. In this blog, we describe the most common maintenance solutions with the deployment of augmented and mixed reality. These solutions are not only of added value in the current situation, but also in the future.
1. Augmented Reality (AR) manual
No more thick manuals. That’s what many mechanics dream of. Looking up the right information in a handbook is a thing of the past. Augmented reality blows away the dust on handbooks. The technology is becoming increasingly popular and is being embraced by companies and mechanics.
An AR manual is an application where information is visualized at the correct position of a machine or plant. It is interactive and displays the information where it is needed. The purpose of an AR manual is to give the mechanic or end user instructions in an interactive way. The AR manual is suitable for several phases of the product life cycle. For example when unpacking and installing a product or providing support when problems occur.
We have developed an “AR Packaging App. An app in which we provide the technology industry with assistance in shipping and assembling complex machines, devices or parts thereof. The app supports the recipient by providing step-by-step instructions in the app, which were created for the shipper during the packing process. Want to know more? Then read the case about the ‘AR Packaging App’.
2. Remote assist
Remote assist is a solution that allows companies to dial in an expert remotely. This is an added value when a company is having difficulty solving a malfunction. For an expert, sometimes watching the breakdown is enough to give the technician the right instructions. In addition, a company can use remote assist so that a more experienced colleague can support a new technician. With remote assist, you always have the right expertise at your disposal.
The difference from standard video calling? By using a Mixed Reality App and a Hololens, the technician has his hands free. In this way, the technician works efficiently on a malfunction and the expert can watch along. In addition, a big advantage is the possibility of interactivity. Screenshots or videos can be shared, but also parts can be highlighted with arrows or circles.
3. Maintenance training
Educate and train your mechanics or other employees using AR or MR? Possible at any time and in any location. Augmented and mixed reality make it possible to virtually display information on physical objects. Training new maintenance technicians is faster because the information and technology are already available. Since information is visualized during training through VR glasses, it is not even necessary to have a trainer physically present.
We have developed a solution that allows you to easily connect your own hardware (wirelessly) to a virtual environment. This way, mechanics can train with their own machines and operating systems. By linking the actual operating systems to the virtual environment, employees learn to use the machine in a realistic way. Accidents, failure and training costs are thus reduced.
AR object recognition
A common solution for maintenance is AR object recognition. The name says it all, by scanning with a phone a part can be recognized. We have developed two apps for VodafoneZiggo. The app for customers is designed to easily scan and recognize an AOP. The second app is for technicians to collect more data, with the aim of improving the machine learning model used to recognize the AOPs.
Want to know more about the possibilities of AR product recognition? Then read the case of VodafoneZiggo ‘Scan & Recognize App’.
Would you also like to use MR and AR maintenance for your business?
We explain in 4 steps how you can start to use augmented or mixed reality for your maintenance & support. Using this roadmap, your organization can take its first steps to successfully optimize the maintenance & support process with the deployment of VR, MR and AR.
