Reducing Errors in Aircraft Maintenance and Assembly using Augmented Reality

研究目的这项研究探索了增强现实作为一种新的工具，通过提高人类操作员进行适当的飞机维护和组装程序的效率来提高航空旅行的安全性。增强现实(AR)是一个术语，用于识别一组允许通过计算机生成的元素或对象来增强现实世界环境的视图的技术。这创造了一个真实物体和虚拟物体共存的环境。虚拟物体可以表现为它们知道自己所处的环境，并对相互作用做出反应。许多硬件设备都可以创造这种体验，比如像Microsoft HoloLens 2这样的光学透视式头盔显示器，或者使用传统VR耳机上的外部安装摄像头呈现物理世界视图的视频透视式VR设备。重点是在现有的模拟/数字飞机维护/组装系统和部署它们的操作员之间建立更强大的闭环。这项研究旨在开发新兴的网络物理系统。研究目标是减少或消除飞机组装和维护过程中的错误。航空旅行中的安全是一个重要的优先事项--这一领域的错误可能会造成数百万的设备损坏、数十亿的品牌损害，以及受害者家属的不可估量的损失。增强现实正在被探索为一种工具，可以检测飞机的哪个部件当前正在工作，以便将当前的指令集直接覆盖在部件上，通过与上下文相关的3D图表和动画来增强维护部署。操作员视野中的一个箭头可以指向正确的部件，并显示该部件如何按照空客协议正确拆卸的动画。更大的图景是有效地将管理飞机维护的战略和操作系统与飞机操作员在地面的日常执行相结合。这包括研究有效的框架/流程，以允许组织内的非AR专家编写/更新增强现实的维护说明，并着眼于自动化这一过程。目前存在一些现成的解决方案来解决这一问题，例如Microsoft的Dynamic 365 Guides for HoloLens 2。从研究的角度来看，这些工具的有效性仍有待调查。文献中的例子表明，使用这些类型的工具会取得很有希望的结果，而现成的解决方案提供了一个很好的开始平台，可以研究更好的解决方案和用户界面，从而最大限度地提高帮助并最大限度地减少干扰和复杂性。新颖的研究方法目前还没有定性或定量的调查来研究不同现成的解决方案在AR维护和授权领域的有效性。这些工具的主要关键性能指标包括任务完成时间、出错次数和认知负荷。在不同的AR解决方案中测量这些因素可以帮助确定哪些界面元素和安排具有最大的影响，这反过来又为设计更好的解决方案铺平了道路，基于经验的人为因素研究。对这一领域的调查将首先在大学研究中心和学生队列中进行。在稍后的阶段，调查将与空中客车运营商进行，因为这一群体是这项技术的最终用户目标。研究交付-概念验证AR系统，探索AR在减少飞机维护和组装中的错误方面可以实现的价值。这可作为进一步调查工业AR和执行决策的参考点。

Research AimsThis research explores Augmented Reality as a novel tool to increase the safety of air travel, by enhancing the efficacy of human operators at undertaking proper Aircraft maintenance and assembly procedures.Augmented Reality (AR) is a term used to identify a set of technologies that allows the view of real world environments to be augmented by computer-generated elements or objects. This creates an environment in which real and virtual objects coexist. Virtual objects can act as if they are aware of their environment, and respond to interactions.Many hardware devices can create this experience, such as optical see-through head mounted displays, like the Microsoft HoloLens 2, or video pass-through VR devices that render a view of the physical world, using externally-mounted cameras on a conventional VR headset.The focus is on creating a stronger closed loop between existing analog/digital aircraft maintenance/assembly systems and the human operator that is deploying them. The research aims to exploit emerging cyber-physical systems.Research ObjectivesThe research objective is to reduce or eliminate errors that are committed during Aircraft assembly and maintenance. Safety during air travel is an important priority - errors in this field can cost millions in equipment damage, billions in brand damage, and immeasurable cost to the families of victims.Augmented Reality is being explored as a tool to detect which component of an aircraft is currently being worked on, in order to overlay the current instruction-set directly over the component, enhancing maintenance deployment with contextually-relevant 3D diagrams and animations. An arrow in the operator's field of view can point to the correct component, and display an animation of how this component is correctly disassembled following Airbus protocol.The bigger picture is to effectively merge the strategic and operational systems that govern aircraft maintenance with the day-to-day execution of the aircraft operator on the ground. This involves researching effective frameworks/processes to allow non-AR specialists within the organisation to author/update maintenance instructions for Augmented Reality, with a vision towards automating this process.A few off-the-shelf solutions currently exist to tackle this area, such as Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Guides for HoloLens 2. From a research perspective, the efficacy of these tools remains to be investigated. Examples from the literature point towards promising results using these types of tools, and the off-the-self solutions provide a good starting platform to research even better solutions and user interfaces that maximise helpfulness and minimise obtrusiveness and complexity.Novel Research MethodologyNo qualitative or quantitative investigation currently exists into the efficacy of different off-the-shelf solutions in the area of AR maintenance and authoring.Primary key performance metrics for these tools include task completion time, number of errors made and cognitive load. Measuring these factors in different AR solutions can help determine which interface elements and arrangements have the most impact, which in turn paves the way towards designing better solutions, grounded in empirical human-factors research.Investigation into this field will first be based in the university research centre with a student cohort. In a later stage, the investigation will be conducted with Airbus operators, as this cohort is the end-user target for this technology.Research DeliverablesA proof-of-concept AR system that explores the value that AR can achieve in reducing errors in aircraft maintenance and assembly. This can be used as a reference point for further investigations into Industrial AR and executive decision-making.