Users of tactical and mission-critical solutions at the front lines of danger demand reliability of their equipment every time they need to use it.
Just as augmented reality overlays can reduce soldier workload by providing on-demand situational awareness in a heads-up display, the technology likewise eases the demands on manufacturing employees building the tactical equipment that will be sent to the field.
JROC Manufacturing
LightGuide provides process instructions and visual cues and alerts via images and video projected onto the workstation. The system uses infrared and 3D sensing to know where an operator's hand is within an inch in any direction, according to
The
The system's general benefit is taking paper-based or on-screen work instructions and integrating them real-time into the process with augmented reality, he added; this reduces the reliance on operator memory - also known as 'cognitive ergonomics' - effectively turning a complex process with multiple steps into a series of simple processes with single steps.
One line piloting the solution has 17 different variants of one product built on one station. The implementation of LightGuide facilitated the consolidation of parts at the station, eliminating changeover per variant, because the system identifies what variant is on the line and what components it needs when the operator scans in its bar code. Since implementation in
'LightGuide also collects cycle time data for each process step, allowing us to examine variability in the build process and identify root causes,' Esse said.
JROC Manufacturing
The company has continued to incorporate LightGuide in additional manufacturing locations since the inception of the pilot programs, including L3Harris Integrated Vision Solutions business'
'LightGuide has been a great asset for us,' Branco said. 'They've helped us understand our process better, and even help streamline it by asking the right questions about our order of operations when incorporating the system into our processes. Now, we're going to see how far we can push the technology.'
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