Enhancing depth cues with AR visualization for forklift operation assistance in warehouse.

With warehouse operations contributing to the major part of logistics, architects tend to utilize every inch of the space allocated to maximize the stacking space. Increasing the height of the aisles and narrowing down the aisle-aisle space are major design issues in doing so. Even though forklift manufacturing companies introduced high reach trucks and forklifts for narrow aisles, forklift operators face many issues while working with heavy pallets. This thesis focused on developing a systemthat uses Augmented Reality(AR) to aid forklift operators in performing their pallet racking and pick up tasks. It used AR technology to superimpose virtual cues over the real world specifying the pallets to be picked up and moved and also assist in operating the forklift using depth cues. This aims to increase the productivity of the forklift operators in the warehouse. Depth cues are overlaid on a live video feed from a camera attached to the front of the forklift which was displayed using a laptop to the participants. To evaluate the usability of the system designed, an experiment was conducted and the performance results and the feedback from the participants was evaluated. A remote controlled toy forklift was used to conduct the experiment and a motion tracking system was set-up to track the cab and pallet. Simple pallet handling tasks were designed for the participants and their performance and feedback was collected and analysed. This thesis shows how AR offers a simple and effecient solution for the problems faced by forklift operators while performing pallet handling tasks in warehouse

Analysis of First-Time Completion in the Field Service Environment

First-time completion is an important measure of service quality and efficiency in the field service industry. Customers call upon field service providers to repair their equipment in a timely manner so it can be put back into service for their business demands. Responsiveness can be measured through first-time completion and is defined as completing the repair on the first visit of a service call. This research is exploring the first-time completion in the forklift service industry. This research found the primary factors that impact first-time completion percentage in this industry include parts on hand, parts backorder process, technician experience, and anticipating service demands

Opportunities for using eye tracking technology in manufacturing and logistics: Systematic literature review and research agenda

Workers play essential roles in manufacturing and logistics. Releasing workers from routine tasks and enabling them to focus on creative, value-adding activities can enhance their performance and wellbeing, and it is also key to the successful implementation of Industry 4.0. One technology that can help identify patterns of worker-system interaction is Eye Tracking (ET), which is a non-intrusive technology for measuring human eye movements. ET can provide moment-by-moment insights into the cognitive state of the subject during task execution, which can improve our understanding of how humans behave and make decisions within complex systems. It also enables explorations of the subject’s interaction mode with the working environment. Earlier research has investigated the use of ET in manufacturing and logistics, but the literature is fragmented and has not yet been discussed in a literature review yet. This article therefore conducts a systematic literature review to explore the applications of ET, summarise its benefits, and outline future research opportunities of using ET in manufacturing and logistics. We first propose a conceptual framework to guide our study and then conduct a systematic literature search in scholarly databases, obtaining 71 relevant papers. Building on the proposed framework, we systematically review the use of ET and categorize the identified papers according to their application in manufacturing (product development, production, quality inspection) and logistics. Our results reveal that ET has several use cases in the manufacturing sector, but that its application in logistics has not been studied extensively so far. We summarize the benefits of using ET in terms of process performance, human performance, and work environment and safety, and also discuss the methodological characteristics of the ET literature as well as typical ET measures used. We conclude by illustrating future avenues for ET research in manufacturing and logistics

Safety of the Introduction of Self-driving Vehicles in a Logistics Environment

Thanks to the increasing speed of technological development brought by the 21st century, many of the processes in industrial production have been automated. The next big step in this progress of artificial intelligence could potentially be in corporate logistics, road haulage, and even private transport. Naturally, automation within corporations and in critical infrastructure raises ethical and trust-related issues, reflected in the attitude of emerging markets toward this form of development. This research aims to discover the current state of development of self-driving vehicles through comprehensive literary research and to present those ethical problems, the solutions to which are paramount for society to accept and to incorporate the concept of self-driving vehicles. As a result of the analysis of a knowledge-based system with the inductive inference method in primary research, the current strengths and weaknesses of automation in the field of logistics are revealed. The paper summarizes the results of the primary research and projects them for the future of automation

Dividing Complexity to Conquer New Dimensions – Towards a Framework for Designing Augmented Reality Solutions

Augmented reality (AR) can foster service innovation and thus cope with some of the most urgent challenges in the service science domain, namely supporting frontline workers while ensuring high safety standards. Therefore, the utilization of AR can help to achieve these goals. On the contrary, AR remains a complex technology with specific requirements and preconditions that demand expertise to overcome them. Based on a case study, we derive a framework for designing AR solutions, which helps divide the complexity of designing and developing AR-based services to support the adoption and diffusion of AR applications. Such an encompassing perspective on initial AR explorations helps to transform the acquired information into a thorough proof of concept, pilot implementations and ultimately productive software

Virtual Reality Wand Design and Fabrication

As virtual reality (VR) is becoming a more viable option for real world skills training, developers are attempting to uncover the methods and technologies that will lead to the most efficient transfer of knowledge and proficiency of the target tasks. Within these optimization issues lies the question that asks what type of VR interaction device will provide users with maximum control within the virtual environment (VE) while being a convenient and comfortable tool to use. An ideal interaction device should balance the factors of functionality, user satisfaction, and cost while yielding a well-designed product in the process. Although the needs for all VR systems are not the same, popular interaction devices in use today include wired gloves as well as VR wands, the current mode of interaction for study during this summer REU ISR project

Project Blue Ocean report

A project was undertaken for Synlait Milk Limited in partial fulfilment of the Master in Engineering Management degree at the University of Canterbury. Project Blue Ocean aimed to discover opportunities for new technology adoption to improve the business operation. The project was initiated to drive the Manufacturing Excellence framework which contains three strong pillars: Safety, Reliability and People. The project began with the discovery of the current issues, mainly focused on manual handling (critical risk activities), repetitive and low-value tasks. The technology solutions were generated respectively to each issue and a high level concept study was developed for each of the top three technology solutions. Design Thinking methodology was applied throughout the project to understand the problems, define the underlying issues, generate unconstrained technology ideas, and prototype the most feasible solution. Justification methods such as the NTCP Diamond Model, the Total Application Model and the Technology Category Model were combined to create an evaluation matrix to find out the top three technology solutions: Vacuum System at Fluid Bed, Collaborative Robots and Fob Key Integration. Preliminary economic evaluation and recommendation plans were made, based on a high level concept study of each solution

Towards the use of augmented reality techniques for assisted acceptance sampling

Acceptance sampling is a statistical procedure for accepting or rejecting production lots according to the result of a sample inspection. Formalizing the concept of assisted acceptance sampling, this article suggests the use of consolidated tools for reducing the risk of human errors in acceptance sampling activities. To this purpose, the application of augmented reality techniques may represent a profitable and sustainable solution. An augmented reality–based prototype system is described in detail and tested by an experimental plan. The major original contributions of this work are (a) introducing the new paradigm of assisted acceptance sampling and (b) developing a preliminary application in an industrial-like environment. This application is a first step towards the realization of a complete assisted acceptance sampling system

Importance and applications of robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) in railway maintenance sector: a review

Maintenance, which is critical for safe, reliable, quality, and cost-effective service, plays a dominant role in the railway industry. Therefore, this paper examines the importance and applications of Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in railway maintenance. More than 70 research publications, which are either in practice or under investigation describing RAS developments in the railway maintenance, are analysed. It has been found that the majority of RAS developed are for rolling-stock maintenance, followed by railway track maintenance. Further, it has been found that there is growing interest and demand for robotics and autonomous systems in the railway maintenance sector, which is largely due to the increased competition, rapid expansion and ever-increasing expense