Assistance from a distance: Design & Engineering

On-site technicians rarely find the solution to a problem with an industrial machine in a manual, and experts frequently must travel to the manufacturer’s site to get the equipment running again. Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE developed the augmented reality system to help experts remotely assist manufacturers.

The system allows technicians to record the malfunctioning machine with a camera attached to the back of a laptop monitor, according to the institute. An image processing program calculates the camera’s position and direction of view and sends this data to the machine builder over standard telecommunications networks. The system is based on a chat protocol, which means everyone involved can communicate either through the chat function or by telephone.