Organized by Harvin AR, the PROCESS EXPO AR Showcase will feature demonstrations by participating PROCESS EXPO exhibitors that will highlight features holographically of equipment and/or guide interested attendees through augmented reality training simulations.

“This is definitely going to be one of the highlights of this year’s show,” said Jarrod McCarroll, Chairman of the Food Processing Suppliers Association and President of Weber, Inc.

“Whether it be empowering maintenance personnel on the plant floor or engineers envisioning processing floor adaptations from the actual plant floor, this technology has the potential to revolutionize how suppliers work with food processors. Thanks to these demonstrations at PROCESS EXPO, attendees will get first-hand experience on this technology that they may soon be seeing in their plants in the future.”

“The Augmented Reality Showcase is one of the many innovative show floor activities that attendees will find at this year’s PROCESS EXPO,” said David Seckman, President & CEO of the Food Processing Suppliers Association.

“Between the Showcase, our live production lines and demonstrations, our certification courses, PROCESS EXPO University, and many more networking opportunities, we have filled the week with meaningful activities that address issues within the food processing industry and create new opportunities to identify manufacturing solutions.

Of course, this is in addition to exhibits of over 500 companies providing manufacturing solutions in processing and packaging across all segments of the food and beverage industry which is the true draw for food industry professionals across the globe.”

The Augmented Reality Showcase will be open to all attendees of PROCESS EXPO 2019. For more information on attending the show please visit www.myprocessexpo.com.

The Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) is a global trade association serving suppliers in the food and beverage industries. The Association’s programs and services support member’s success by providing assistance in marketing their products and services, overall improvement in key business practices and many opportunities to network among industry colleagues.  Programs and services to achieve these objectives include PROCESS EXPO (industry leading trade show), electronic media marketing, education, market intelligence, research, and advocation of critical industry issues such as food safety, sanitary design of equipment, and global trade.

“Our vision is to completely revolutionize the way aircraft skin inspection is carried out at the moment,” explains Antal Bence Kiss, CEO, AerinX. “To achieve this, we are developing a smart inspection system which combines AR technology with modern picture processing, giving a decision-supporting tool in the hands of professionals. AerinX promises to reduce inspection time in case of AOG events, as well as line and heavy maintenance.”

The system, which began development in 2015, uses smart glasses to project all relevant technical information about an aircraft type—such as plate thickness at a given point or damage history—in 3D on the surface of the aircraft. This allows maintenance workers to determine the size and exact location of damage, which is automatically registered to AerinX’s database so the inspection results can be investigated remotely.

“We continuously build AerinX’s database to include as many aircraft types and their maintenance manuals as possible,” says Imre Hanyecz, CCO, AerinX. “We are able to extend and customize our database to the exact needs of our actual clients and partners.”

AerinX has tested a variety of different AR glasses and headsets and it is currently using the Microsoft HoloLens. “We constantly keep an eye on the market, as AR technology itself is undergoing rapid development, and we aim to always work with the best available equipment for our use case,” explains Hanyecz.

According to AerinX, the benefit of its system compared to similar AR technologies is that it intends to supplement current inspection processes rather than fully automate them, which means the system could be implemented into daily operations much sooner. Hanyecz adds that the AerinX system will serve as a “decision-making tool in the hands of the maintenance engineers” and build on their expertise during the inspection process.

Hanyecz says the company has reached the stage of maturity where it can begin focusing on starting a limited number of strategic partnerships with airlines and MROs for testing and refining the system. AerinX recently began a strategic partnership with Aeroplex of Central Europe, one of the region’s largest MROs, to implement the system in heavy and line maintenance processes. During this prototype testing phase, which AerinX estimates will take around six months, the two companies will work closely to refine and further develop the system’s functionality in real life industry conditions. Hanyecz says the next phase of development—which is estimated to take another six months—will entail refining and testing AerinX’s extended functionality.

The company is currently working on getting venture capital investment support to help with development and market introduction of the technology in both the civil and defense aviation sectors. AerinX has received seed funding from Hungarian VC X-Ventures Gamma Capital Funds and is currently aiming to raise Series A round of funding to help launch the product in approximately 12 months’ time.

AerinX says it is still open to forming partnerships with industry players during its current phase of development and pricing information for the system has yet to be determined.

“Augmented and virtual reality are already revolutionizing IT, education, retail, marketing and other sectors, and healthcare is becoming the next great frontier of these technologies,” says Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. “The Medical Capital Innovation Competition will give AR, VR and XR healthcare startups access to resources that will help them innovate in ways that improve patient care and patient experience.”

The Medical Capital Innovation Competition, presented by BioEnterprise, is a business plan pitch competition that gives participating teams the opportunity to demo their technologies and make their best pitch to an esteemed panel of judges. Ideas will be judged by industry experts using specific criteria, including, but not limited to, commercial and technical viability and the strength of the team.

The Medical Capital Innovation Competition draws teams from around the world every year; in fact, in 2018 alone, the event drew 180 applicant teams from 24 countries and 33 states. Past collegiate teams have hailed from Case Western Reserve University, Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University. Judges for the 2019 MCIC include:

• Anil Jain, M.D., VP and Chief Health Informatics Officer, IBM Watson Health
• Srinivasan Suresh, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer, UPMC
• Sonja O’Malley, Senior Director Commercialization, Cleveland Clinic Innovations
• Jeffrey Reis, Vice President, Fund Management, Healthbox

BioEnterprise receives support for the Medical Capital Innovation Competition from Cuyahoga County, JumpStart, HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) and the Global Center for Health Innovation. Healthcare partners include Cleveland Clinic Innovations, University Hospitals, The MetroHealth System and ProMedica. Supporting sponsors include Case Western Reserve University and Develoco.

For more information and to apply: mcic.bioenterprise.com.

On top of this, there is a vast variety of versions for each vehicle model and type. Quite frequently, the first challenge for the service technicians is to locate the component in question in first place. Bosch supports service technicians by means of innovative Augmented Reality applications thus enabling them to perform service and repair tasks at an increasingly sophisticated working environment both efficiently and with high quality.

The advantage: Important and individual vehicle information is provided quickly and at the right place. Combining Augmented Reality applications with the ActiveSchematics technology, vehicle-specific wiring and block diagrams can now be visualized case specific and in real time. For service technicians, this results in faster repairs and prevention of mistakes during the specific tasks.

Average time savings of 15 percent per step taken

Bosch performed a field study in order to analyze the benefits of using Augmented Reality applications in everyday workshop life. Augmented Reality allows time savings of 15 percent in average per step taken – even on common vehicles and in case of less sophisticated repair tasks such as e.g. removing specific components. Once the service technician points his tablet computer or smart glasses onto an area on the vehicle’s engine compartment featuring AR information, useful information is added to the real image. In this manner, even the location of components hidden behind panels can be displayed visually.

Two powerful tools: Augmented Reality and ActiveSchematics

Once the service technician identified the vehicle, its equipment and its technical peculiarities by means of the VIN number, he will only receive the information required for the specific vehicle as he continues with the following steps. For this purpose, Bosch combines two of its solutions: ActiveSchematics and its Augmented Reality Platform (CAP).

Once the error pattern has been read out of the fault memory, ActiveSchematics creates the relevant wiring diagrams for the specific error pattern. Doing so, it only takes those components into consideration that are actually installed at the vehicle. This allows displaying a case specific overview while the Augmented Reality application shows the information right at the place where it is needed by the service technician.

For straightforward content generation, Bosch imports the data directly from engineering. This reduces the creation efforts and allows immediate and flexible implementation and release of technical advancements.

Efficient workflow cuts expenses

It eases both the fault isolation and the identification of the components affected. In addition, it saves time as service technicians don’t have to go through various manuals to find the problem resolution, but can start repairing right away. Therefore, focusing on information relevant for the specific vehicle and error pattern, the combined use of Augmented Reality applications and ActiveSchematics also help avoiding unnecessary repair steps, mistakes and thus save costs.

Automation Fair featured about 150 Rockwell Automation and partner exhibits, 95 technical sessions, 22 labs, and nine industry-focused forums. Attendance was estimated at over 8,000 customers, up 21 percent over last year, a record for an Automation Fair not held in Chicago.

Automation Perspectives: Expanding the Human Possibility and PTC Partnership.

Rockwell Automation’s Chairman and CEO, Blake Moret, opened Automation Fair for the global press and analyst community at the Automation Perspectives media/analyst event. Mr. Moret discussed the company’s strategy for expanding the human possibility by combining the imagination of people with the power of machines, which he believes makes anything possible. He also discussed trends and technologies that are bringing The Connected Enterprise to life.

Jim Heppelmann, President and CEO of PTC, then joined Mr. Moret to announce that Rockwell Automation and PTC have jointly launched FactoryTalk InnovationSuite powered by PTC, the first collaborative offering to integrate technologies from both companies following the strategic partnership announcement in June 2018.  They discussed that the driving force for the partnership was to provide the ability to connect and bring intelligence to people, processes, and products.

Mr. Heppelmann then explained how companies are transforming their physical operations with digital technology, the benefits of an integrated information platform, and how combining accelerated IIoT application deployment, advanced analytics, and augmented reality (AR) puts the user in charge of innovation and eliminates individual system barriers.

ConnectedProduction, Cybersecurity, and Veterans

Automation Perspectives continued with Allan Rentcome, Director, Global Solutions Technology for Rockwell Automation, discussing the company’s “ConnectedProduction” solution for digital transformation from the wellhead to transportation to terminals. This solution was designed to help oil & gas industry participants overcome operational challenges.  These include connectivity to multiple or disparate systems, data cleansing, and converting data into meaningful, actionable information. He stressed that with 2019 shaping up to be a volatile year in which oil prices could go in either direction, users must take steps now to ensure that all manufacturing solutions are connected, monitored, managed and controlled, and operations optimized.

Next, Nadav Zafrir, President of Claroty, a key Rockwell Automation cybersecurity partner, discussed hidden risks for manufacturers and how when these involve cybersecurity, “you can’t defend against what you can’t see.”  Mr. Zafrir emphasized that companies must be proactive to get and stay ahead of the curve and “it takes a village” to fight cyber-attacks.  As IT and OT continue to converge, IT and OT groups must work together to help ensure cybersecurity. Manufacturers must understand the current threat landscape, emerging risks, and what steps need to be taken to protect multiple generations of automation and enterprise systems throughout all levels of a manufacturing organization.

Joe Allie, Director of Global Competency at Rockwell Automation moderated the final session. This highlighted the company’s support of the Academy of Advanced Manufacturing, which trains veterans for manufacturing careers.  Nearly 100 veterans graduated from the academy in its first year, with a goal to graduate 1,000 veterans by 2020.

The article goes on to discuss:

• PSUG: Big Impact from Digital-driven Smart Production
• FactoryTalk InnovationSuite Powered by PTC

The full article can be viewed here on ARC.

It is called the Rensselaer Augmented and Virtual Environment (RAVE), a new laboratory for researchers and students to experiment with different uses of virtual and augmented reality. The former immerses users in a computer-generated environment, while the latter adds a layer of computer-generated enhancements to the real world.

“Virtual and augmented reality can be used to perform experiments and provide learning experiences that were previously impossible due to scale, cost, or safety,” said Rich Radke, co-director of the RAVE and a professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering. “The RAVE presents unprecedented opportunities for how we study and incorporate this technology at Rensselaer.”

With state-of-the-art equipment and an extremely flexible physical space, the RAVE can be configured and adjusted according to the needs of whoever is using it.

A materials science and engineering class might gather around large molecular structures visible to them only through smartphones and tablets. A researcher wearing a virtual reality headset might explore a distant celestial object and be able to move around it as if she were actually there. Radke and co-director Jason Hicken, an associate professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, hope that Rensselaer faculty members and students make use of the lab to explore new ways in which these technologies can enhance their work.

After its ribbon cutting in November, the RAVE began its first full semester in operation in January, supporting several undergraduate research projects related to engineering pedagogy, and being written into several faculty research proposals.

“We are only beginning to discover the RAVE’s potential,” Hicken said.

See the full press release.

Bühler Consumer Foods was established in January 2019, integrating the Haas Group and the original consumer foods business of the Bühler Group. The Haas Group has been a customer of XMReality’s since 2016. Bühler Consumer Foods now expands its agreement with XMReality and enables users from other businesses from within the Bühler Group to use the solution in Asia. Bühler Group will do an initial roll-out in Asia to enable their helpdesk staff support both their own mobile workers as well as including XMReality Remote Guidance into their remote service offering.

“Thanks to the positive experience we have made within our Consumer Foods business and the good partnership with XMReality we decided to expand our pilot project and will use the new support tool for customer service in Asia”, says Manfred Götz, CIO of Bühler.

“XMReality highly values existing customer relationship with Bühler Consumer Foods and we are excited to support the expanded partnership with the Bühler Group. International roll-outs, and the extended focus on reselling our solutions as part of customer service offerings is a developing trend we see amongst our customers”, says Johan Castevall, CEO XMReality.

The order includes XMReality Remote Guidance software, XMReality Web Client, and XMReality PointPad™. The software value is approx. 0,5 MSEK annual recurring revenue and will be recognized during 2019. Including this additional order, total order value from Haas Group during last 12 months amounts to approx. 1,0 MSEK.

From the abstract:

This disclosure concerns an interactive head-mounted eyepiece with an integrated processor for handling content for display and an integrated image source for introducing the content to an optical assembly through which the user views a surrounding environment and the displayed content, wherein the eyepiece includes event and user action control of external applications.

In non-patent speak, the AR glasses will be able to display and let you interact with digital content overlaid on the real world, much like HoloLens currently does. Where the glasses would set themselves apart is in size. Whereas HoloLens is currently a relatively bulky rig, Microsoft’s proposal would pack the same capabilities into something the size of a large set of glasses.

In its lengthy disclosure, Microsoft outlines a large and varied number of uses for the glasses. In one scenario, traveling and tours could be supplemented by displaying sightseeing information over real-world architecture and points of interest. Another implementation could see real-time translations displayed in the user’s field of vision. Other applications include enhancements for shopping, advertising, and even military and identification applications.

It’s a brief look at what AR may hold for the future, once the technology has been sufficiently miniaturized. For that to take hold, however, it will have to be accepted by society more broadly. And as we previously saw with Google’s Glass experiment, that could prove to be a tough nut to crack.

It seems possible that the adoption of smart glasses by consumers may resemble that of computers: The mainframes used in the early days of computing were extremely expensive, and were strictly owned by companies. But as technology improved, computers became increasingly ubiquitous at workers’ desks. The PC revolution completed the process, leading to computers being found in the vast majority of American homes.

Augmented-reality smart glasses are likely to retain their foothold as something owned and used by businesses in the industrial sphere, where high prices aren’t a deterrent, ROI is easy to measure, and narrowly defined use cases are a benefit, not a disadvantage. But the work being done now in the industrial world will all be put to use as tech companies try to figure out how to build augmented-reality smart glasses meant to be worn to the coffee shop and not strictly on the shop floor.

How Toyota Stopped Using Paper to Paint Cars

At Toyota’s car manufacturing plants, painting is a matter of precision, which is where AR can be extremely useful.  The case at Toyota is walked through in detail in the article including the original problems and how these were resolved with the use of Microsoft HoloLens.

“This improvement — this kaizen — meant we were able to eliminate the time to place the piece of paper on the car,” says Kayano. A process that used to require one day and two employees now takes just four hours for one employee to complete.

Kayano sees augmented reality being used throughout the Toyota manufacturing process, but it also represents something he’s spent decades thinking about. “I have been working on using digital data for engineering for 20 years,” he says. “It was my dream to be able to see in the real world what I had seen on the computer screen. Hololens was actually a dream come true for me.”

A host of other companies beyond Microsoft and Alphabet have developed niches for augmented-reality smart glasses within the industrial world. Epson has built smart glasses designed for use by professional drone operators which allow them to keep an eye on the drone and also see what the drone itself is “seeing” in a single glance. Vuzix smart glasses are designed to help keep supply-chain information in front of workers’ eyes while they’re in the warehouse. The DAQRI Smart Helmet helps architects and designers visualize their work in 3-D space.

Who knows when the futuristic world of consumer smart glasses promised by the first Google Glass ads will come? Major innovations in hardware, connectivity speed, style, and comfort will all be required before you can pick up a pair of shades that will give you Terminator vision. But in order for those innovations to be achieved, there has to be a context in which smart glasses are both useful and economical. And for right now, that’s the factory.

At first, this meant that work orders for a new piece of equipment coming down the line would be inspected on stationary computer monitors, but this meant employees were often walking back and forth between the monitors and what they were working on, wasting steps and time. In an effort to eliminate this back-and-forth, employees were given tablets meant for the factory floor. But tablets had a major flaw: Workers needed to have both hands free to work on machinery. Not only was holding onto the tablets a safety issue, it also meant workers would set the tablets down wherever was handy, leading to a lot of dropped tablets.

Gulick began to look into using Glass for Enterprise, an effort by Alphabet, the holding company that owns Google, to use what had been sold to consumers as Google Glass for business applications. She quickly found a lot to like. Workers were able to keep both hands free while using Glass. They could use their voice to control Glass, whether to take pictures to send to a supervisor or to go back a page on their work orders.

“If you drop and break a pair of Glasses, the worst-case scenario, it’s $1,500. If you buy a rugged tablet and drop it on the floor and run over it with a tractor, it’s $4,000.

So, that was a pretty easy business case to bring to my leadership,” says Gulick. A pilot program began with just six pair of Glasses, and the results were encouraging from the start.

“Our measurements came back in at 30 percent process improvement, 50 percent reduction in training time, 30 percent improvement in quality processing time,” says Gulick. They quickly upped their order to 100 pairs of Glasses.

Now, line workers at the Jackson plant spend much of their days wearing Glasses. “For our line workers, we consider Glass to be a part of their uniform. They wear gloves, they wear a helmet, they wear ear protection, and they have Glass,” says Gulick. “We really consider it to be a 40-hour-a-week tool. With 12 to 13 hours of battery life, they can easily make it.” Workers charge their smart glasses overnight, and put them back on in the morning.

Now, many new workers hired by AGCO are being trained to use Glass, whether their specific job will require them to use the smart glasses or not. What’s more, Gulick says the ability of Glass to provide easy-to-follow instructions in a worker’s field of view changes who they hire.

“You don’t have to hire a mechanic or someone [with] that background,” says Gulick. She foresees AGCO being able to use augmented-reality smart glasses for training and on-the-floor oversight that will significantly expand the labor pool the company hires from. “The untapped workforce in manufacturing is women.”