Smart augmented reality instructional system for mechanical assembly towards worker-centered intelligent manufacturing

Quality and efficiency are crucial indicators of any manufacturing company. Many companies are suffering from a shortage of experienced workers across the production line to perform complex assembly tasks. To reduce time and error in an assembly task, a worker-centered system consisting of multi-modal Augmented Reality (AR) instructions with the support of a deep learning network for tool detection is introduced. The integrated AR is designed to provide on-site instructions including various visual renderings with a fine-tuned Region-based Convolutional Neural Network, which is trained on a synthetic tool dataset. The dataset is generated using CAD models of tools and displayed onto a 2D scene without using real tool images. By experimenting the system to a mechanical assembly of a CNC carving machine, the result of a designed experiment shows that the system helps reduce the time and errors of the given assembly tasks by 33.2 % and 32.4 %, respectively. With the integrated system, an efficient, customizable smart AR instruction system capable of sensing, characterizing requirements, and enhancing worker’s performance has been built and demonstrated.