Usability of Augmented Reality in Aeronautic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul

Augmented Reality (AR) is a strong growing research topic in several areas including industry, training, art and entertainment. AR can help users to achieve very complex tasks by enhancing their vision with useful and well-adapted information. This paper deals with evaluating the usability of AR in aeronautic maintenance training tasks. A case study in the on-site maintenance department was conducted using an augmented reality application, involving operators at several levels of expertise. Obtained results highlighted the full efficacy of AR in the field of aeronautic maintenance

Science Arts & Métiers (SAM)

International audienceAugmented Reality (AR) technology facilitates interactions with information and understanding of complex situations. Aeronautical Maintenance combines complexity induced by the variety of products and constraints associated to aeronautic sector and the environment of maintenance. AR tools seem well indicated to solve constraints of productivity and quality on the aeronautical maintenance activities by simplifying data interactions for the workers. However, few evaluations of AR have been done in real processes due to the difficulty of integrating the technology without proper tools for deployment and assessing the results. This paper proposes a method to select suitable criteria for AR evaluation in industrial environment and to deploy AR solutions suited to assist maintenance workers. These are used to set up on-field experiments that demonstrate benefits of AR on process and user point of view for different profiles of workers. Further work will consist on using these elements to extend results to AR evaluation on the whole aeronautical maintenance process. A classification of maintenance activities linked to workers specific needs will lead to prediction of the value that augmented reality would bring to each activity

Methodology for the Field Evaluation of the Impact of Augmented Reality Tools for Maintenance Workers in the Aeronautic Industry

Augmented Reality (AR) enhances the comprehension of complex situations by making the handling of contextual information easier. Maintenance activities in aeronautics consist of complex tasks carried out on various high-technology products under severe constraints from the sector and work environment. AR tools appear to be a potential solution to improve interactions between workers and technical data to increase the productivity and the quality of aeronautical maintenance activities. However, assessments of the actual impact of AR on industrial processes are limited due to a lack of methods and tools to assist in the integration and evaluation of AR tools in the field. This paper presents a method for deploying AR tools adapted to maintenance workers and for selecting relevant evaluation criteria of the impact in an industrial context. This method is applied to design an AR tool for the maintenance workshop, to experiment on real use cases, and to observe the impact of AR on productivity and user satisfaction for all worker profiles. Further work aims to generalize the results to the whole maintenance process in the aeronautical industry. The use of the collected data should enable the prediction of the impact of AR for related maintenance activities

Evaluating Added Value of Augmented Reality to Assist Aeronautical Maintenance Workers - Experimentation on On-Field Use Case

Augmented Reality (AR) technology facilitates interactions with information and understanding of complex situations. Aeronautical Maintenance combines complexity induced by the variety of products and constraints associated to aeronautic sector and the environment of maintenance. AR tools seem well indicated to solve constraints of productivity and quality on the aeronautical maintenance activities by simplifying data interactions for the workers. However, few evaluations of AR have been done in real processes due to the difficulty of integrating the technology without proper tools for deployment and assessing the results. This paper proposes a method to select suitable criteria for AR evaluation in industrial environment and to deploy AR solutions suited to assist maintenance workers. These are used to set up on-field experiments that demonstrate benefits of AR on process and user point of view for different profiles of workers. Further work will consist on using these elements to extend results to AR evaluation on the whole aeronautical maintenance process. A classification of maintenance activities linked to workers specific needs will lead to prediction of the value that augmented reality would bring to each activity

Remote maintenance assistance using real-time augmented reality authoring

Maintenance operations and lifecycle engineering have largely been considered one of the most expensive and time-consuming components for industrial equipment. Numerous organizations continually devote large quantities of resources towards maintaining equipment. As such, any optimizations that would reduce maintenance errors and expenses could lead to substantial time and cost savings. Unfortunately, there are often not enough specialists to meet the demand, forcing localized technicians to perform on-site maintenance on equipment outside their area of expertise. Augmented reality (AR) is one technology that has already been shown to improve the maintenance process. While powerful, AR has its own set of challenges, from content authoring to spatial perception. This work details a system that puts both the power of AR and the knowledge of a specialist directly into the hands of an on-site technician. An application was developed that enables a specialist to deliver AR instructions in real-time to assist a technician performing on-site maintenance. Using a novel and simplified authoring interface, specialists can create AR content in real-time, with little to no prior knowledge of augmented reality or the system itself. There has been ample research on different AR-supported processes, such as real-time authoring, video monitoring, and off-site assistance. However, much less work has been done to integrate them and leverage existing personnel knowledge to both author and deliver real-time AR instructions. This work details the development and implementation of such a system. A technical evaluation was also performed to ensure real-time connectivity in geographically distributed environments. Three network configurations were evaluated. A high-latency high-bandwidth network was used to represent a typical modern maintenance facility. A low-bandwidth network was evaluated to mimic older or more isolated maintenance environments. Lastly, a 4G LTE network was tested, showing the potential for the system to be used across global locations. Under all network configurations, the system effectively facilitated the complete disassembly of a hydraulic pump assembly

Tecnologias de informação na manutenção aeronáutica

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia MecânicaA manutenção aeronáutica não é só caracterizada pela elevada regulamentação associada como também pela rigorosidade que os técnicos de manutenção e seus trabalhos devem apresentar, tornando-se um dos sectores mais exigentes. Com a Indústria 4.0 novas tecnologias podem fazer parte das funções de uma organização de modo a facilitar e melhorar as suas atividades e processos. Com isto, igualmente aparecem as Tecnologias de Informação, e mais propriamente a tecnologia de Realidade Aumentada que, assim como muitas as outras tecnologias, apoia no desenvolvimento de uma organização e dos seus processos. A presente dissertação visa descrever o conceito da Indústria 4.0 e Tecnologia de Informação, e também, explicar no que consiste a tecnologia de Realidade Aumentada, as suas vantagens, principalmente perante os métodos convencionais de realização das tarefas, e onde é que ainda precisa de ser aperfeiçoada para que num futuro próximo possa apoiar com muita mais regularidade e facilidade os trabalhos da manutenção aeronáutica. Numa primeira análise foi possível demonstrar que não existe nada que impeça em termos de regulamentação a prática de novas tecnologias numa MRO, tanto para os seus trabalhos como para a formação dos seus técnicos. Com a demonstração e análise de alguns casos de estudos do uso de tecnologias de Realidade Aumentada em trabalhos de manutenção aeronáutica, realizados por outros autores, e com a aplicação e igualmente respetiva análise de casos de estudo com base em documentação real de trabalho da empresa TAP, foi possível na presente dissertação demonstrar que atualmente as tecnologias de Realidade Aumentada já apresentam uma mais valia, principalmente no tempo de realização das tarefas que como demonstrado pode ser bastante reduzido e igualmente no facto de ser uma tecnologia bem recebida por parte dos utilizadores para o uso das tarefas de manutenção.Aeronautical maintenance is not only characterized by the high associated regulations but also by the rigor that maintenance technicians and their work must present, making it one of the most demanding sectors. With Industry 4.0 new technologies can be part of the functions of an organization in order to facilitate and improve its activities and processes. With this, information technologies also appear, and more specifically the Augmented Reality technology which, like many other technologies, supports the development of an organization and its processes. This dissertation aims to describe the concept of Industry 4.0 and Information Technology, and also to explain what augmented reality technology consists of, its advantages, especially in view of conventional methods of performing tasks, and where it still needs to be improved so that in the near future it can support very regularly and easily the work of aeronautical maintenance. In a first analysis it was possible to demonstrate that there is nothing to prevent in terms of regulation the practice of new technologies in an MRO, both for their work and for the training of their technicians. With the demonstration and analysis of some case studies of the use of Augmented Reality technologies in aeronautical maintenance work, carried out by other authors, and with the application and also respective analysis of case studies based on real documentation of work of TAP, it was possible in this dissertation to demonstrate that currently Augmented Reality technologies already have an added value, especially in the time of performance of tasks which as demonstrated can be greatly reduced and also in the fact that it is a well received technology by users for the use of maintenance tasks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Architecture System Framework for a Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) main goal is to increase safety of global aviation. To pursue such goal, a Global Aviation Safety Plan was issued. This document highlights the importance of Safety Management System (SMS) requirements compliance by aviation stakeholders. At regional level, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued the European Plan for Aviation Safety which identifies the strategy and the enablers for the near future. This includes the implementation of SMS on aviation industry, but also identifies the importance of digitalization and technology to improve safety level. In industry, having an enterprise architecture helps Organizations to have a systematic approach to ensure Processes, Information and Technology architectures alignment. Technology shall be used to improve the processes to a higher level of effectiveness and efficiency, producing the information effectively needed by different organizational levels. So, the question that arises is how can Continuing Airworthiness Management Organizations (CAMO) leverage its business, promoting safety and bringing value to stakeholder’s expectations? The goal of this dissertation was to promote the development of a high-level CAMO architecture system framework which complies with applicable SMS and airworthiness regulations. To meet this goal, three data vectors will be analyzed: the organizational architectures, the airworthiness CAMO requirements and the data provided by studies on how technology is leveraging industrial aviation. This will allow the identification of which business processes and compliance information are required and enable the discussion of which applicable architecture model should be more effective. The study led to the Architecture System Framework components proposal within the Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization, namely the Business Process architecture, the Information architecture and the Technological enablers guidance proposals. The Business Process architecture proposal is divided trough 3 processes levels that includes 8 level 1 processes, 31 level 2 processes and a third level where each of the level 2 process was designed using BPMN detail approach. To design Information Architecture was used DFD notation where 11 high level data entities repository were identified, evaluated and proposed. In the end of this work and using the identified technological enablers applied to aviation industry at the moment, it was discussed how these technologies could leverage the identified processes. Then it was developed a technological guidance scheme where was integrated the identified processes with the possible technologies to be used

A framework of contextual knowledge in three dimensional computer aided design for mechanical engineering undergraduates

Today’s industries demand engineering graduates who are equipped with good knowledge and skills in using modern Three Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD). However, the recent research findings show that there is a lack of contextual knowledge among Mechanical Engineering Undergraduates when utilizing 3D CAD modeling software to develop a good product design. Most of them are not able to contextualize their created model in the aspects of manufacturing and user applications. This study was conducted to explore the essential contextual knowledge elements in the process of developing 3D CAD models among practitioners in manufacturing industries. The constructs of digital product modeling were established for this study, known as the contexts of Model Creation, Model Manipulation, Model Visualization and Model Transfer. A transcendental phenomenology approach was used as the main research design of this study. The participants of this study were practicing engineers from a shipbuilding company in Peninsular Malaysia. They have been purposefully selected to explore their experiences in utilizing the elements of contextual knowledge in 3D CAD modeling applications in their daily design works. All collected data were analyzed using phenomenological analysis. The textural and structural descriptions were gathered to capture what and how the essential contextual knowledge elements from each practicing engineer in the application of 3D CAD modeling within four digital product modeling contexts. Relevant documents were analyzed from practicing engineers to triangulate the main data for this study. The study has successfully developed a framework of Contextual Knowledge in 3D CAD modeling, which consists of three main elements: Realization, Design Intention and Normalization. By injecting these three elements in teaching and learning 3D CAD modeling, students can be expected to develop a creative and innovative product design and may lead to better usability of 3D CAD software in the product modeling process

Astronautics and aeronautics, 1977: A chronology

This publication is a chronology of events during the year 1977 in the fields of aeronautical and space research, development, activity, and policy. It includes appendixes, an index, and illustrations. Chronological entries list sources for further inquiry