Fostering Additive Manufacturing of Special Parts with Augmented-Reality On-Site Visualization

Abstract

This paper presents the engineering and evaluation of a novel use case in the area of production that seizes the potentials of two disruptive technologies – additive manufacturing (AM) and augmented reality (AR). A smartphone-based AR application was developed to support the workflow of producing special components based on AM. The developed app fosters the evaluation of individually engineered parts based on virtual three-dimensional (3D)-computer-aided design (CAD) models projected to the intended installation-site. This supports the detection of problems caused by inaccessible raw measurements or difficult to anticipate movements of the produced parts. The designed app was tested in a real-world industrial setting. In total, six production engineers conducted 12 test runs. The tests were video recorded and complemented by questionnaires. Both data sources served as a basis for the conducted analysis aiming to evaluate this case.This paper shares key insights gained by the evaluation of the implemented application in a real-world industrial setting and provides evidence of how disruptive new technologies may be used to support shop floor production processes.