How Interoperability Can Scale Industrial Augmented Reality in Manufacturing

Demonstrating robust technical data handling at the scale of complex product systems remains a challenge. Causes include (i) the distributed-ness of production systems, (ii) a disconnect between the formal development of design requirements and the generation of downstream data, (iii) lack of interoperability of computer-supported tools through the production lifecycle, (iv) lack of adherence to industrial standards, and (v) data rights and access protocols, to name a few. For decades, researchers across industry, government, and academia have advocated for holistic standards-based approaches for supporting intra-organizational data exchange for complex product systems. Although there has been considerable progress, large-scale demonstrators that span both large (sub-)assemblies and organizations are significantly lacking. In response, Air Force ManTech has recently invested in several related projects that aim to push the bounds of data exchange for linking design, manufacturing, inspection, and sustainment activities. Project goals include (i) content authoring at scale for industrial augmented reality (AR), (ii) data linking to support large-scale assembly, and (iii) semantic reasoning at scale with manufacturing data. This webinar will present progress of these efforts and highlight the developing partnerships across government and industry that will be key to the programs' successes. We will also cover a recent meta-review that establishes some key research opportunities and future directions for improving the scalability of Industrial AR for Manufacturing through interoperability. Attendees will gain insights into: * Standards-driven digital threads and the relevance to scalable augmented reality * AR use cases in manufacturing quality control and assurance * Current status of interoperability challenges for manufacturing