AR Glasses Spatial Overlay for Industrial Plant Process Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial plants face challenges in maintaining consistent and predictable product quality due to complex dependencies on production parameters, lack of up-to-date information on plant status, and shortages of skilled maintenance personnel.
Innovation Solution
An augmented reality-based automation system that includes AR glasses and executable program logic, which dynamically determines and updates the coordinates of a bounding space around the user, displaying relevant virtual objects for monitoring and controlling the production process, and allowing hands-free operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If operators rely on traditional information access methods (manual查阅, fixed displays), then information completeness may be sufficient, but information accessibility and ease of operation deteriorate due to time delays and lack of quick access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of information (process parameters, equipment status, operational characteristics) and displays them through AR glasses in the operator's field of view. This allows operators to access complete information without leaving their position or manually searching through systems, directly resolving the contradiction between information completeness and accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions information display from traditional 2D screens to 3D spatial overlay in the operator's visual field. Information is positioned in spatial relationship to actual equipment, allowing simultaneous viewing of physical equipment and digital data without switching between displays, thereby improving both accessibility and ease of operation
2Loss of information
If the system displays all available plant data and information, then information completeness improves, but information overload and system complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different information display characteristics to different spatial locations and equipment types. Each piece of equipment receives customized information relevant to its operation, and the system adapts display density and detail based on local context. This allows comprehensive information coverage without uniform overload across all displays
Solution Approach 2:
The AR information display dynamically adjusts based on operator position, gaze direction, and operational context. Information is continuously updated and repositioned in the field of view, with priority given to currently relevant parameters. This dynamic adaptation prevents static information overload while maintaining completeness of available data
3Reliability
If specialized maintenance personnel are deployed to handle technical problems, then maintenance quality improves, but response time and productivity worsen due to personnel shortage and travel time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables operators to perform maintenance and troubleshooting functions independently through AR-guided procedures. The system provides step-by-step instructions, diagnostic information, and operational guidance directly in the field of view, allowing non-specialized personnel to handle technical problems with quality comparable to expert intervention, thereby eliminating the need for specialized personnel deployment and improving response time
Data Source
AI summary
An automation system controls an automated production process of an industrial plant. The system includes an augmented reality system, including augmented reality glasses and executable program logic coupled to the augmented reality glasses. The executable program logic is configured to receive an up-to-date spatial position of a user wearing the augmented reality glasses from a positioning system, determine coordinates of a bounding space proximate to the user wearing the AR-glasses, display one or more virtual objects to the wearer of the AR glasses via the AR glasses if and only if coordinates of the virtual objects are within the bounding space, and continuously update the coordinates of the three-dimensional bounding space and the virtual objects displayed therein as a function of the up-to-date spatial position of the user wearing the AR glasses.