AR Equipment Visualization for Obscured Industrial Assets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems face challenges in efficiently communicating and managing information about obscured or hard-to-reach equipment, leading to difficulties in maintenance and predictive maintenance of potential issues.
Innovation Solution
A tri-partite communication architecture that includes a computing device, a cloud-based system, and image sensors to capture visual representations of equipment, allowing for the display of real and virtual objects that provide information about equipment status and location, even when obscured, and enabling remote and automated determination of equipment identity and operational parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional monitoring methods are used for industrial automation equipment, then device complexity is reduced, but information availability about obscured equipment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the physical equipment with its virtual representation in the augmented reality environment. The virtual equipment model integrates equipment identity, operational parameters, and status information into a unified digital twin that can be viewed and interacted with in AR, providing comprehensive information about physical equipment that may be obscured or hard to reach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D display interfaces to 3D augmented reality visualization. By projecting virtual equipment models into the physical workspace, the system adds a spatial dimension to information display, allowing users to view equipment status and parameters in the context of the actual equipment location, even when the physical equipment is obscured.
2Measurement precision
If direct viewing of equipment is required, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates accurate virtual copies of physical equipment that replicate all visual and informational characteristics of the original equipment. These virtual models serve as digital twins that can be viewed and analyzed without physically accessing the actual equipment, maintaining full measurement and diagnostic capability while eliminating the need for direct physical access.
Solution Approach 2:
The augmented reality system acts as an intermediary between the user and the physical equipment. Instead of requiring direct line-of-sight to obscured equipment, the AR system mediates the interaction by projecting virtual equipment models that convey all necessary information about the physical equipment's status, parameters, and condition.
3Productivity
If manual equipment inspection is performed, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables equipment to effectively monitor and report its own status through the virtual equipment models. Operational parameters, alerts, and diagnostic information are automatically displayed in the augmented reality interface without requiring manual inspection procedures, allowing the equipment to serve its own monitoring needs while providing data to maintenance personnel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical inspection processes with automated optical and computational systems. Image sensors capture equipment visuals, computer vision algorithms analyze equipment condition, and augmented reality interfaces present findings, substituting the mechanical act of manual inspection with an automated sensor-processing-display pipeline that increases efficiency and reduces human labor requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A first computing device in an industrial automation system may include an image sensor that captures a visual representation of a portion of a facility including a first industrial automation equipment as image data and a communication component that communicatively couples the first computing device to a second computing device via a communication network, in which the first computing device receives relevant information related to the first industrial automation equipment from the second computing device. The first computing may include a display component that displays a plurality of real objects that visually represent physical features in the portion of the facility based at least in part on the image data, in which the plurality of real objects include a first real object that visual represents physical features of the first industrial automation equipment; and that displays a first virtual object superimposed on at least a portion of the plurality of real objects based at least in part on the relevant information.