Augmented Reality for Virtual User Manual

The present work aims to propose a new approach for defining interactive user manual in complex assemblies, using a new enabling technology of Industry 4.0, i.e. Augmented Reality. The AR environment supports the user in step-by-step assembly on-the-fly. The study of this method, suitable to realize the assembly of parts, is a stimulating engineering mission, which can take advantage from the latest innovations in imagining technologies and computer graphics. In the present paper, a proposal for an innovative method based on Augmented Reality useful to support the components’ assembly is suggested. The methodology illustrated is based upon a four steps process: at the beginning, the designer performs the assembly structure through a CAD system. In a second time, an unexperienced user assembles the same parts without any suggestion: the differences between two assembly sequences are documented and broken down in order to distinguish critical points in the assembly. Finally, a virtual user manual is shaped in Augmented Reality environment. The assembly is then performed by the same unexperienced user, guided by the AR tool. When the end user practices the instrument, the location of the item to assemble is perceived by tracking the finger position of the user itself. In order to help the end-user in the assembly procedure, a series of symbols and texts is added to the external scene. In this paper a case study based on the assembly of a scale model has been developed to evaluate the methodology. After an evaluation process, the procedure seems to be feasible and presents some advantages over the state-of-the-art methodologies proposed by literature