AR Assembly Tooling for Precise Component Alignment Without Jigs
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for assembling components are costly and time-consuming due to the need for hard tooling such as jigs and fixtures, which require precise design and production, and are affected by thermal expansion and cumulative tolerance issues, leading to inaccuracies and high expenses, especially in large-scale productions like aerospace and automotive industries.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of real-time virtual or augmented assembly tooling (RVAT) that uses digital manufacturing to guide and align components precisely, providing real-time feedback and eliminating the need for physical tooling by projecting critical data directly onto the assembly area, allowing for accurate positioning and operation without the need for traditional hard tooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If hard tooling such as jigs and fixtures is used for component assembly, then components can be aligned and positioned in desired locations, but the cost and time required for design, production, and setup increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical hard tooling (jigs and fixtures) with a virtual augmented reality system that uses digital models and visual overlays to guide component assembly. The system projects alignment guides, component locations, and assembly instructions directly into the worker's field of view, eliminating the need for complex physical tooling structures while maintaining positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual digital twin or replica of the hard tooling system in the form of augmented reality overlays. These virtual copies display alignment references, component positions, and assembly guides that replicate the function of physical tooling without requiring physical fabrication, thereby reducing device complexity and cost.
2Manufacturing precision
If hard tooling is designed and produced based on mockups and replicas, then assembly accuracy can be achieved, but the production time and expense increase due to creating full-size replicas with precise tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the mechanical process of creating physical mockups and full-size replicas with digital modeling and virtual reality visualization. The system uses computer-generated three-dimensional models to provide assembly guidance, eliminating the time-consuming process of fabricating physical tooling while maintaining the same level of precision through digital tolerances and virtual alignment references.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs all tooling design, modeling, and preparation work in the digital domain before assembly begins. Virtual tooling is created, tested, and validated through software simulations, allowing any modifications to be made instantly without physical rework. This preliminary digital preparation eliminates the need for iterative physical mockup fabrication and accelerates the overall tooling deployment time.
3Ease of operation
If multiple jigs and fixtures are used for assembly operations, then components can be held and positioned correctly, but the cumulative tolerance errors increase and reduce overall accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate tooling functions (alignment references, position markers, orientation guides) into a single integrated augmented reality system. Instead of using multiple physical jigs and fixtures that each introduce their own tolerance errors, the system projects all alignment and positioning information as a unified virtual overlay, eliminating cumulative tolerance accumulation while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The augmented reality system serves multiple tooling functions simultaneously - providing alignment guides, position markers, orientation references, and assembly instructions - all through a single virtual interface. This multi-functional approach replaces the need for multiple specialized physical tooling components, reducing the number of interfaces and potential error sources while improving operational ease.
4Productivity
If traditional assembly methods with physical tooling are used, then assembly operations can be performed, but real-time feedback and quality monitoring are difficult to implement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates real-time feedback mechanisms into the augmented reality assembly system. The system continuously monitors component positions, alignment accuracy, and assembly progress, providing immediate visual feedback through the AR interface. This allows workers to self-correct positioning errors in real-time and enables automated quality verification without interrupting the assembly flow, thereby maintaining high productivity while capturing complete process information.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems and devices for assembling components to form an assembled structure, using virtual or augmented assembly tooling, in real time, real-time virtual assembly tooling (or RVAT). Structures such as vehicles, aircrafts, or other products are produced from assembling a plurality of component parts together, with virtual assembly tooling of the system, method and devices that provides real-time capability for directing and guiding operations and for generating feedback. The structure is built from the CAD, transforming the CAD to imaging representations whose transformations are generated with one or more component scans, projected on a display. The method, system and devices are constructed to build a product from a CAD through transformations of CAD information in conjunction with the real-time imaging and tracking of assembly components and tooling precise positioning of components, and controlling assembly operations, such as, for example, assembly, drilling, riveting, bonding, and welding, a product is constructed.