Remote Services Support System Visual Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for guiding users in the examination and repair of equipment lack visual instruction and often lead to unsafe practices, neglecting factors like time, cost, and tool availability, and do not effectively support remote assistance.
Innovation Solution
A services support system and method that uses mobile devices to provide remote guidance through a recommended work scope, including images, videos, and alerts, which allows users to receive assistance from remotely located resources, and determines the need for component replacement by comparing actual and designated characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If text-based instructional guides are provided to users, then users can receive basic repair guidance, but the guides lack visual instruction and may lead to unsafe actions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from text-based (1D) instructions to multi-dimensional visual instructions including images, videos, and augmented reality overlays. This dimensional enrichment provides comprehensive visual guidance showing proper procedures and safety warnings simultaneously, eliminating the need to choose between text completeness and visual safety cues.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a mobile device as an intermediary between the user and the equipment. This intermediary delivers enriched instructional content including visual demonstrations, safety alerts, and step-by-step guidance, acting as a mediator that prevents unsafe actions by providing comprehensive information before users perform repair tasks.
2Ease of operation
If generic instructional guides are provided without considering repair parameters, then users can access basic repair information, but the guides do not account for time, cost, and tool availability
Solution Approach 1:
The repair guidance system transitions from static generic instructions to dynamic adaptive guidance. The system dynamically adjusts the recommended work scope based on real-time inputs from users about available tools, time constraints, and budget considerations. This allows the same base guidance to adapt to different repair conditions and user capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates multiple repair parameters (time, cost, tool availability, skill level) that can be changed and optimized. Users can input their specific constraints, and the system modifies the recommended repair approach accordingly, selecting from multiple possible solutions based on the prioritization of these parameters.
3Productivity
If users perform repair tasks without remote support capability, then users can work independently, but users lack access to remotely located expert resources
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile device serves as an intermediary that connects users to remotely located expert resources and databases. Users maintain independence by performing tasks on-site, but the intermediary provides real-time access to expert guidance, technical manuals, and diagnostic tools, combining independence with reliable expert support.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the need for physical presence of experts (mechanical co-location) with electronic communication and data transmission. Remote experts can provide guidance through the mobile device without being physically present, substituting electronic intermediaries for physical proximity while maintaining support quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for remotely supporting users includes receiving identification information of a potential problem with a remotely located equipment from a user and responding to receiving the identification information by providing a recommended work scope to the user. The recommended work scope includes a recommended series of actions to perform to at least one of repair or replace a component subsystem and an instructional representation for display on a mobile device. The first instructional representation both illustrates the series of actions to perform and includes at least one annotation to represent an alert to the user that is related to the action being illustrated. The first instructional representation includes images, videos, and/or a combination thereof that are displayed on the mobile device to guide the user through the recommended work scope.