Transformation of Cognitive Assistance Systems into Augmented Reality

The field of Augmented Reality (AR) has received increasing attention in recent years, as AR can be applied to a wide range of problems. The use of AR offers great potential, especially in the industrial sector. Among many applications in this area, one promising application is the augmentation of cognitive assistance systems. Much research has already been done on the development of augmented support systems but it is still lacking on how to transform existing assistance systems into an AR application. This paper focuses on this transformation and presents a process model that intends to support the migration or digitalization of existing support systems into an AR application. An experimental study validates the proposed approach and derives recommendations for action

Sustainability and Circular Economy in Learning Factories – Case Studies

Since the mitigation of climate change is one of the biggest challenges to face on a global scale, the topic has become more relevant also in industrial context. Learning factories have proven to be suitable environments to address and convey competencies to tackle industrial challenges in an interactive way. Hence, several learning factories are already dealing with sustainability topics in various use cases. This paper strives to present a state of the art of sustainability and circular economy in learning factories. Therefore, a classification framework is developed based on the state of the art of several learning factories and existing literature regarding the topic. This framework is then used to systematically describe the different activities regarding sustainability and circular economy that are currently ongoing in learning factories worldwide. This can be used to get an idea about the different aspects of the topic and how to address them, but furthermore also offers assistance to identify “blind spots” which could and should be addressed in learning factories in the future

Learning factories and sustainable engineering : competencies for students and industrial workforce

Sustainability and the circular economy are becoming increasingly important for industry and academia. Learning factories at higher education institutions around the globe attempt to educate students and industrial workers on these topics through specially developed training modules. To successfully implement measures to mitigate issues, such as climate change, product life cycle considerations - in which different phases may require different worker competencies - are indispensable. In this context, we provide some evaluation of learning factory use cases regarding sustainability. The use cases are evaluated on product life cycle phases and respective worker sustainability and circular economy competencies. The results show that the majority of the use cases focus on the production life cycle phase; product development, product use, and end-of-life have either not or very rarely been addressed. Our general conclusions and implications relate to these findings with a recommendation that learning factories expand their training capabilities