Applying the Teaching Factory Paradigm and Augmented Reality Technology for Operator Training in Assembly Operations

Abstract

Educational and vocational training is constantly evolving due to the new technologies emergence under the concept of Industry 4.0. Augmented Reality (AR) is a rapidly growing technology that promises the delivery of high-quality visualization solutions, in a way that enables the user to interact with both digital and physical objects in a single immersive environment. This paper utilizes AR to support bilateral communication, between industry and academia, and enhance assembly and process monitoring operations, under the umbrella of the Teaching Factory paradigm. The proposed framework supports real-time information exchange between industrial equipment and the cloud-enabled AR application that empowers online performance monitoring and assembly operation support. The proposed approach utilizes IoT-enabled devices from the process ecosystem, in order to retrieve and upload information on a cloud-platform in real-time. Additional focus was given on ensuring the data distribution and visualization mechanisms, within different application instances in a non-geographical anchored network. Users from both industry and academia can simultaneously visualize and analyze process information within the AR environment, in the foreground of the physical or the digital equipment respectively. Further on, the application assisted the assembly operations of the process equipment, using animated holographic components for creating a realistic display of the of the assembly steps. The approach was implemented in a turbocharger system, using Android platform for the deployment of the AR application and an AllThingsTalk server for the data aggregation and distribution. The results indicated high potential on enhancing the process monitoring and assembly training, establishing a valuable tool for fast troubleshooting between users across industry and academia.