Situation

To maximize uptime of its customers’ heavy trucks and other commercial vehicles, Renault Trucks needed a more effective way to remotely support a network of 72 service outlets across the UK & Ireland. They needed collaborative video technology that would be easy to use, deploy, scale, simplify training and quality control processes, and supply a safe, secure connection even in low bandwidth environments.

Solution

Using Librestream’s Onsight augmented reality software and HMT-1 hands-free headsets from RealWear, Renault Trucks developed Optiview, a remote support platform that has since been deployed throughout the UK and Ireland. The system allows licensed service centers to virtually connect with the OEM’s support desk or even with other service centers.   

Results

Since implementation, there is less need to send Renault Trucks representatives onsite. In-person warranty part inspections have gone down by a factor of five, resulting in 10 to 15% fewer miles driven and a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gases. Warranty claims and payments are much faster, customer satisfaction has improved, and asset uptime is significantly higher—for example, complex service procedures that once took 24 to 48 hours can often be performed in just 20 to 30 minutes, greatly increasing uptime value for vehicle operators.  

Read more on Librestream use cases 

on SAP^® Store.

TeamViewer Frontline Augmented Reality provides a unique AR-based software suite for deskless workers using smart glasses or mobile devices. It can be integrated into SAP’s solutions for various industries, enabling SAP customers to digitalize industrial processes and create workflows for logistics picking, assembly, quality assurance and maintenance as well as field service. Moreover, customers can receive AR-based remote support for precise and reliable troubleshooting through a shared camera stream and context-aware AR annotations.

SAP Endorsed Apps are a category of solutions from SAP’s partner ecosystem that help customers become best-run, intelligent enterprises.

Stefan Krauss, SVP & GM Discrete Industries and Energy & Natural Resources at SAP, explains: “With SAP’s recent launch of industry cloud, we simplify access to innovative vertical solutions – built by SAP and our partners on an open platform. AR-based processes can significantly increase productivity, reduce human errors, and machine downtime and therefore decrease costs. We are looking forward to the partnership with TeamViewer to help accelerate digitalization across industries.”

“SAP is a trusted global brand with a proven track record in providing enterprise software. The listing as an SAP Endorsed App gives us the opportunity to jointly go to market and to offer our leading AR solutions portfolio to SAP’s global customer base with the ambition to further digitalize their value chain,” says Alfredo Patron, EVP Business Development at TeamViewer.

You can watch the full webinar on Using Theorem-XR and HoloLens 2 for Engineering Reviews.

Key highlights

Theorem has also picked out 5 key benefits of using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 in Engineering which appear in full detail on their blog.

Visualize your models at full scale.
Work collaboratively with other engineers.
Make better factory planning decisions.
Work with large datasets using Azure Remote Rendering.
You can still work with colleagues that are using other XR technologies, or none at all.

Key summary points from the interview:

AR/VR is one of those technologies that has numerous benefits in manufacturing environments and Flex began utilizing it before a lot of other players entered the market.

Flex currently uses a variety of immersive technologies across its functions. Augmented and virtual reality are used for applications like Remote Assistance, Work Instructions, Logistics, Design Collaboration, Training, and others.

In addition, Flex uses advanced simulation technologies to not only optimize production systems but also immerse users into virtual manufacturing environments with Digital Twins.

It was a big undertaking to start the journey at Flex, and the biggest achievement in the beginning was executive sponsorship and buy-in.

My role was / is worldwide leader and owner of the technology and strategy. The first use case was remote assistance due to the financial benefits and seemingly simpler development. I say seemingly because we quickly learned it wasn’t so easy.

When we started development, we conducted very large-scale market studies and did a lot of collaboration with vendors and suppliers to understand the best path forward.

Our employees at first had mixed reactions and to this day the biggest pain point is the hardware. But as we continue to improve, we’re seeing that acceptance is growing.

To name a few challenges for AR/VR: Hardware maturity, hardware comfort, field of view, battery life, graphics, processing power and UX/UI.

The software had many challenges, as well, including tracking, localization, overlaying, OCR (optical character recognition), object recognition, IDE (integrated development environment) features, and OS compatibility. There are more, of course, but we consider these to be the major ones.

We overcame some of these challenges, mostly in the software space, and for some we had to desperately and quickly find alternatives, especially in the case of hardware. For instance, our hardware strategy ended up shifting to mobile in the beginning due to the lack of wearable hardware that could deliver what we needed.

It was fun introducing AR/VR to Flex’s customers.

The pandemic has had a huge impact; we have seen groups and teams we would never have imagined wanting to use the technology, each with their own needs and requirements.

Lab by Transport for Wales, a scheme developed by TfW and Alt Labs, sees business innovators from across the Wales and Borders region develop their ideas to improve safety, performance, and customers’ experiences on the railway.

Taking place at 1.30pm on Friday 3 September, the virtual demo day gives the businesses from across Wales and the UK the opportunity to showcase their ideas directly to senior TfW innovation managers and industry leaders. The event is also streamed live on YouTube.

It follows a period of dedicated mentoring by business experts both remotely and at TfW’s state-of-the art facility in Newport.

The five companies pitching to TfW on September 3 are:

Jnction – developing Aubin, a new multi-modal journey planner and passenger assistant app which aims to minimise stress for passengers with autism and hidden disabilities when using public transport.

Quinean – developing a low-code machine learning platform that allows domain experts to deploy digital twins, test hypotheses and optimise outcomes at speed.

RoboK – developing efficient AI-based computer vision solutions to democratise safety in transportation.

Stofl – developing infrastructure and solutions that combine Blockchain and Low-Power-WAN technologies, allowing machines to communicate and solve some of the world’s most pressing problems more efficiently, securely and in locations further afield.

Utility AR – work with innovators in industrial sectors to unlock the potential of Augmented Reality applications which allow the user to interact with the real world while accessing existing databases and software systems.

Find out more information here https://businessnewswales.com/tech-talent-set-to-showcase-innovative-ideas-at-lab-by-tfw/

In connection with this agreement, the companies will jointly pursue customer opportunities aimed at launching new augmented reality (AR) enabled solutions incorporating Ostendo’s AR smart glasses and Inpixon’s award-winning location, computer vision and AR technologies. These solutions will seek to surpass competitors’ benchmarks in terms of size, weight, resolution, cost effectiveness and mobile app integration in order to bring the immersive experiences and extraordinary value of AR to a multitude of industries and use cases.

Read more in the press release

.  The foodservice industry is navigating an unprecedented wave of change in the wake of COVID-19, pushing quality assurance front and center. A recent survey of more than 600 foodservice professionals revealed that nearly 90% of food safety managers, operations managers and franchise managers say COVID-19 has made it harder to recruit and retain employees, with almost 40% of respondents unsure if food in their restaurants consistently meets corporate standards1. NSF EyeSucceed is a transformational training modality that uses augmented reality (AR) paired with wearable smartglasses to improve employee training, consistency and operational efficiency, contributing to better experiences for employees and consumers.

NSF EyeSucceed co-founders Tom Chestnut and Jennifer Tong applied their more than 40 years of collective foodservice experience to develop a solution that addresses the growing demand for AR capabilities in the restaurant industry.

“The need for cost-effective smart solutions has been growing for years. Through the pandemic, the food industry is seeking even more ways to leverage new technologies to improve training and efficiency while maintaining quality and consistency,” said Chestnut. “NSF EyeSucceed provides foodservice businesses with a customized suite of applications, helping to keep pace with the rapid hiring and increased consumer demand that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The survey also revealed that 51% of quick service restaurant (QSR) brands say AR could make training faster, and 40% say AR could reduce human error.

“Our proof-of-concept testing and implementation in five global markets has proven that NSF EyeSucceed delivers transformational solutions,” said Tong. “We are encouraged by the wide use of applications for this technology to truly transform the foodservice industry–from decreasing the need for in-person visits to vastly improving employee training. For foodservice managers, this means reduced costs while also enhancing food quality and safety for both employees and consumers.”

Wendy’s® is a long-time leader in quality assurance and is focused on continuously evolving its programs to drive industry innovation. The company was among the first to investigate AR and pilot smartglasses using NSF EyeSucceed, initially piloting the technology in 2020.

“Since introducing NSF EyeSucceed to our suite of quality assurance tools, our team at Wendy’s has experienced greater efficiency in our food safety and supplier oversight practices, from product evaluations to audit improvements,” said Jorge Hernandez, Vice President of Quality Assurance at Wendy’s. “This hands-free solution has been especially useful throughout the pandemic, as it’s provided connectivity between sites and deepened supplier relationships, despite travel restrictions around the world. As a result, we’ve seen time and cost savings and positive feedback from our employees and supplier partners. We look forward to completing the pilot program, including testing the smartglasses for employee training and scaling up key learnings.”

Read more here.

The aviation division of bp, Air bp is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aviation fuel products and services. The company is known for its innovative approach and sought an engineering solution to protect its operators against making mistakes. After many years of search, the company seems to have found a solution in AR technology.

The Misfuelling Challenge

When ground crew operators are fueling a small aircraft, they are constantly facing a menacing risk of putting in the wrong grade of fuel. While using the wrong fuel grade for the car is quite common, in aviation misfuelling can potentially bring catastrophic consequences and cost human lives.

The misfuelling challenge thus stays one of the most crucial for the entire industry.

For many years Air bp was reliant on ground workers following the operational procedure. Still, despite the best training for operators, the human error factor is always present and poses a significant risk. The company’s goal has been to find an automatic way to help operators.

AR Technology Enables the Solution

As the handheld device became less expensive and widespread, the team behind the Airfield Automation safe2go solution tried to find a way to use computer vision to recognize fuel-grade labels (decals) placed next to the aircraft fuel tank orifice.

Their goal was to get technology to work with something the aircraft already has without modifying its construction. The team has identified two success factors: the AR technology must never give the wrong fuel grade and have a high success rate of recognizing a decal.

The prototype was rolled out and tested in over 40 airports around the world. To find a reliable solution, Air bp has worked together with AR technology provider Wikitude. The success of the prototype has allowed the whole project to proceed as a safety-critical application.

Good For Safety, Good For Processes

Airfield Automation safe2go is a cloud-based safety-critical application that relies on Image Tracking AR technology to help operators recognize decals representing various types of fuels and help the ground crew avoid making grave mistakes.

Four hundred and ninety-six vehicles at 126 airports are equipped with the AA safe2go app (powered with AR), completing over 12,500 fuellings per week (more than 1 aircraft per minute).

The team soon found out there is a considerable benefit in capturing data in real-time through augmented reality. Previously, the data transmission from the airport to Air bp’s invoicing system was taking almost two days. Now, it is coming through in real-time.

Using the versatile functionality of image tracking, the airline can now send an order electronically, notifying the operators in advance which fuel they need to deliver. Additional benefits allowed Air bp to expand its digital offering.

Award-Winning AR Solution

Manifesting the product’s maturity for market deployment, Air bp’s Airfield Automation has been recognized by the prestigious bp Helios Safety Award and won the UK Real IT Award (including Excellence in Application Modernisation and the Product Innovation awards). The solution has also had its first granted patent.

But most importantly, this use case shows how the long-debated utility of AR technology turns into reality and serves to automate processes and establish a new standard in safety.

University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) engineers worked with officers at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire to demonstrate how augmented reality (AR) headsets could revolutionise day-to-day MRO by streamlining inspections, providing access to remote expert assistance and rapidly upskilling the workforce.

“This could completely change the way we work,” said Squadron Leader Marcus Ramsden, Engineer Officer (AeroSystems) at RAF Leeming. “Because of its use in gaming, this is technology that new RAF recruits are completely familiar with; we need to grasp it and embody it in our operations.”

Since 2015, Microsoft HoloLens’ have been employed by astronauts on the International Space Station when they need hands-free, remote assistance from NASA scientists on Earth, who are able to see precisely what the astronaut is seeing and advise accordingly.

After identifying mixed reality, specifically the Microsoft HoloLens 2 AR headset, as having the potential to streamline inspections within the RAF, by replacing traditional pen-and-paper checklist work instructions with simple, step-by step holographic instructions displayed in an engineer’s field of view, a team from RAF Leeming visited the AMRC’s Factory 2050 in Sheffield.

Sqn Ldr Ramsden said: “At Factory 2050 we saw mixed reality devices being used to do MRO on a kit car and it set my mind into overload – if it could work on a car, why couldn’t it work on an aircraft?

“The University of Sheffield has a Hawk T Mk 1 on its campus, the AMRC has the expertise, and a relationship with Microsoft was already there. It was all perfectly aligned so we commissioned the AMRC to turn one of our paper-based systems into a mixed reality solution, to see what it could do.”

To demonstrate the technology, the AMRC chose to create a mixed reality solution for a wheel change and brake pack assembly on the Hawk T Mk 1, a two-seat training aircraft familiar to many as the aircraft of choice for the RAF’s aerobatic team, the Red Arrows. Developing the mixed reality solution involved learning the current manual method for the wheel change and brake pack assembly, reverse engineering the paper-based instructions and then measuring the individual components to create computer-aided design (CAD) assets.  Work instructions were created from those assets and generated in AR on the HoloLens 2 headset using the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides application.

Mike Lewis, Digital Theme Lead at the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “The major element of the solution we demonstrated is the overlaying of the 3D CAD assets onto the aircraft to provide holographic instructions to the operator. On the headset, an engineer can see components superimposed in 3D on the workpiece and, using spatial perception on the HoloLens 2, be told exactly where they need to be working.

“An AR headset can store far more information than a paper instruction document and it reduces the margin for error considerably because there is a 3D representation of the instruction.”

Sqn Ldr Ramsden says the AMRC, part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, has demonstrated how the technology could be integral in three core areas of the RAF’s operations: remote assist, understanding data and training.

“Right now, when an aircraft is moved to the front line, a team of engineers with individual expertise and their many 400-page manuals move with it. Those paper-based systems not only use up valuable space and weight, they are susceptible to wear-and-tear and can be very cumbersome in the environments we work,” said Sqn Ldr Ramsden.

“Added to that, most of our processes were written down in the 1970s, which means they have been updated inconsistently, can be tough to understand and are hard to translate from the page into the real world.

“Mixed reality would completely change the way we work; one engineer can have the entire up-to-date dataset right in front of them and can be supervised remotely by subject matter experts potentially located on the other side of the world.

“Then, when we consider training, not only can our engineers learn in a safe environment where maintenance notes are flagged up in front of their eyes, they can be guided through simulations of different tasks before physically performing that process – all entirely hands-free. This technology has the potential to streamline our processes, boost our efficiency and improve our safety.”

In a competitive assessment of enterprise augmented reality platforms, ABI Research identifies which current AR vendors can deliver the most business value – now and in the future – using criteria such as:

• Customers, partnerships, and footprint
• Platform breadth
• Use case applicability
• Internet of Things synergy
• Machine vision capabilities
• Pricing and business models

Readers may download the full report and discover why ABI Research ranks PTC Vuforia as the “leader among AR platforms” with “high customer value” and “more capability than most competitors on offer.”

See here