Developed for companies who build large and complex scale prototypes where the goal is to reduce the number of variations of prototypes produced. Our smartAR™ Augmented Reality (AR) design tool augments a digital twin over top of a live camera feed of a real-world, physical object, maintaining scale, placement, and position of the CAD model relative to the object.
How to View smartAR™
The smartAR™ Augmented Reality design tool utilizes a tablet to view the digital twin but the tablet’s position and orientation are monitored by an external motion tracking system. Tracking the tablet enables very high precision when overlaying a digital twin on a real-world object. As the user moves around the physical object, virtual images on the tablet remain fixed relative to the object. Virtual data can be ‘snapped to position’ on the real-world object with accuracy better than 3 millimeters in most stationary views.
Mechdyne’s TGX software is used to access high-resolution CAD data from a central workstation/servers to minimize latency on the tablet.
Visualize mechanical component clashes, CAD animations, and more, over the top of the physical object.
The connection between the tablet and the CAD workstation/server is bi-directional. As the user moves the tablet, the motion tracking system enables awareness of the position of the overlaid CAD model related to its location in the entire CAD assembly model on the workstation. The workstation does not need to be in the same location as the design review session; access to a remote workstation is done using TGX.
The tablet interface is used to change color and other options.
smartAR™ Features
This AR design tool makes notes and captures observations using the tablet stylus or other drawing/annotations.
Take pictures of the combined physical/CAD image. This enables CAD engineers to view the picture within the CAD model space. The picture transparency can be varied to allow the CAD engineer to see through the real object to the CAD model.
Make annotations on the real object image or combined prototype/CAD overlay image. Annotations can be saved back into the CAD application with exact planar location and orientation for proper alignment of the physical and digital information. The CAD engineer can make changes with higher accuracy and confidence, based on the annotations.
Use the tablet as an ‘x-ray’ system, moving through the entire CAD model relative to its real-life counterpart. Users can snapshot and/or annotate areas of interest to inform and speed CAD changes.
We’re able to demonstrate functionality in Alias and VRED, but smartAR™ can be deployed in other CAD programs.
smartAR™ was developed as a solution for a specific client to improve their design workflow. Mechdyne has the expertise to respond to these workflow challenges. Bring us your goals for improvement.
Interested In Learning More about smartAR? Contact Us Today!