Renault Trucks is studying the potential benefits of AR, and more specifically mixed reality, for production processes. A multi-disciplinary team of 20 employees has designed a prototype with Immersion for using mixed reality to control engine quality.
Unlike AR, which displays information on top of reality, both laid flat and on screens, mixed reality can add virtual objects into a real environment in the form of holograms, with which users can interact.
Renault Trucks has been using VR for several years, and is convinced it can go further in its use to improve processes. Its experts have identified the technical issues and uses for which Mixed Reality is suited. To put its research and analysis into practice, the manufacturer called on Immersion, which then provided support during the creation of the mixed reality application; from the initial reflection phase to co-designing the experiment and then designing the prototype.
“In practice, quality control operators will wear Microsoft HoloLens smartglasses in which all the digitalised engine parts will be integrated,” explained Bertrand Félix, the Renault Trucks engineer behind this project. “Via the glasses and mixed reality interface, operators will see decision-making instructions that will guide them through the most complex control operations. At the moment, operators working on control points are still using paper instructions.”
Each of the engine parts, which are digitalised and superimposed over the actual engine, can be viewed separately, guiding operators towards specific parts of the engine and validating quality process stages one-by-one.
Keeping their hands free, operators can also be sent additional decision-making information, such as plans and verification and assembly instructions. It also contains numerous embedded sensors enabling users to move around the engine.
“In addition to the expertise we have been acquiring in virtual reality since 1994, our added value lies in our multi-disciplinary team that really understands needs and uses in order to offer our customers a global experience”, explained Jean-Baptiste de la Rivière, R&D and innovation director at Immersion. “With Renault Trucks, we have designed and developed a tool that is perfectly suited to the requirements of the factory, which can be integrated into the manufacturer's industrial processes.”
Renault Trucks sees considerable advantages in this technology, as use of mixed reality both reduces and improves quality control operations. It also reduces the cognitive load of operators and accelerates their training. Other applications may be envisaged in a second stage, such as assistance with assembly or repair.
