AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM FOR AIDING

M. Januszka, W. Moczulski, Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems Published in: Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 20 (3), Springer, 2011, pp.294-309

AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM FOR AIDING ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS OF MACHINERY SYSTEMS Marcin Januszka1 Wojciech Moczulski1 1

Department of Fundamentals of Machinery Design, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 18A, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland [email protected] (), [email protected]

Abstract The paper presents the application of augmented reality for aiding product design and development of machinery systems. Augmented reality technology integrates an interactive computer-generated word with an interactive real word in such a way that they appear as one environment. AR technology can enhance a user’s perception of the real world with information that is not actually part of the scene but is relevant to the user’s present activity. Presented in the AR system is a mode for changing views of data - especially 3D models – allowing the user to understand the prospective machinery system in a more comprehensive way, thus making the design process more efficient than the one supported by conventional present-day CAD systems. The presented prototype system contains an expert system integrated with AR system and allows the delivering of knowledge to the designer about successive steps of the design process of a mobile robot and practical solutions of realized constructional problems. An approach concerning AR enables the system user to analyze and verify solutions (represented as 3D models) relative to real scenes/objects. This approach is advantageous because the real environment around us often provides a vast amount of information that is difficult to duplicate in a computer. In some cases, the application of an AR system could be an optimal way to verify developed products. Keywords: augmented reality, human-computer interface, CAD, design for customer satisfaction, computer-aided decision making

1. Introduction Technical evolution causes people to design more and more complex technical objects with the use of methods and tools from various disciplines. Nowadays, almost every design 

office deals with computer techniques. A large number of tasks included in the product development process can be computer aided. Some problems without computer-aided systems could be non-solved (Oprzedkiewicz 1993).

This scientific work is partially financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland) – grant No. NN502 448339 “The method for aiding design process with the use of Augmented Reality”.

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

Companies in machinery systems design field have based their products development process on Digital Mock-Up (DMU) and virtual techniques. A typical session of design evaluation and review is performed with the use of virtual reality techniques where features of new products are investigated. The main goal of this approach is to reduce the needs of Physical Mock-Up (PMU) building. The expected benefits of using Virtual Technologies are the reduction of development time, reduction of development costs and increasing reliability and durability of future products for customers satisfaction. To improve and optimize the design and development process in modern companies are adopted more and more often new Virtual Technologies like virtual and mixed reality (see (Dunston et al. 2002, Dunston et al. 2000, Nölle and Klinker 2006, Shin et al. 2005, Wang and Dunston, 2006)). Virtual and mixed reality techniques allow the designer to make proper decisions during the design process (e.g. conceptual and engineering design) and to evaluate the reliability of a future product. It is important problem to adequately present (visualize) the product (Dunston et al. 2000, Milgram et al. 1994, Wang and Dunston

2006). Thanks to modern visualization systems it is possible to maximize legibility of product models (e.g. possibility of visualization in 1:1 or higher scale). An innovative and effective solution to help solve these problems is the application of augmented reality (AR) technology – variety of mixed reality. In the last years this innovative technology is used for aiding designers in an efficient way (Dunston et al. 2002, Dunston et al. 2000, Milgram et al. 1994). AR involves the superposition of computer graphics (most often 3D) over real scenes (predominantly) (fig. 1), viewing through head-mounted devices (HMD) or handheld displays (HHD). The real environment around us provides a lot of information that is difficult to duplicate precisely in a computer (Novak Marcincin 2007). For example, when we want to analyse a designed machine from the point of view of safety in considering factory layout, we don’t want to make a difficult virtual 3D model of the whole factory environment because it can be costly and time-consuming. AR helps designers intuitively determine whether the machine in factory layout meet qualitative indicators, e.g. safety and aesthetics. Sometimes it is not

Figure 1 Reality-virtuality continuum (Milgram et al. 1994)

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

necessary to elaborate a virtual 3D model because of the possibility of using an existing real object or an environment for much less cost. AR helps alleviate limitations of VR by placing the virtual objects side-by-side with real objects. AR technology can enhance a user’s perception of the real world with information that is not actually part of the scene but is relevant to the user’s present activity (Azuma 1997). It provides a natural and intuitive means by which the user can work more efficiently in a real world environment. An AR-based CAD system should allow users to move around a virtual product in a real environment to visualize this product through the HMDs and interact with this virtual product. Several systems trying to apply AR in industry have been developed. In (Regenbrecht et al. 2005) the authors present research, development and deployment of AR systems in the automotive, aviation and astronautics industries. In (Navab 2004) the author summarizes research realized by an industrial AR (IAR) consortium which supports augmented reality for development, production, and servicing in industry (especially in automobile industry). In (Klinker et al. 2002) the authors describe a presentation system for product design called Fata Morgana. The Fata Morgana system aids the process of modeling cars. In this paper the authors concentrate on a new engineering tool. The paper describes successive results of research on augmented reality technology for aiding machinery systems design and development, which are a continuation of the research initiated by the authors in 2005 (Moczulski et al. 2007). The

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research presented in this paper system can be useful in the Systems Engineering Process as an engineering tool for developing products that satisfy customer needs. Some parts of the system can aid in understanding customer needs, establishing the need for change, discovering requirements and defining system functions. An intuitive tool for visualisation helps presenting ideas and intentions of designers to customers and inversely. Thanks to that, the product development process can be customer friendly. Another part of the system can aid designers in decision making during the development process and thanks to that reduce product development time and costs. The application of augmented reality systems is a concept to streamline the Product Development Process (PDP) and its stages in this area of scientific research.

2. Research Background Our research concentrates on improving the design process. The goal of research is to elaborate on the method and system for more efficient machinery systems development with the use of modern techniques of visualization. The authors identify a new problem in systems engineering and product development process domains, that is, the integration of system aiding decision making with an augmented reality system. The problem that the authors intend to study is the elaboration of method collecting and the representation of data and knowledge for such a system. The method should allow the design of more reliable and durable machinery systems for customer satisfaction. The system should aid the designer (or a group of designers) during conceptual and engineering design (especially in

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

the virtual product verification phase). Designers in the engineering design field notice the ease of presenting ideas and design is very important issue. At the beginning, the authors decided to elaborate various mechanisms of searching, collecting, processing of data (especially 3D models) necessary for the designer during designing of a new product. An elaboration of a system for presenting knowledge and data to the user was the next research problem. The designer should be able to use data and knowledge from the system during a design process (Skarka 2007). For that purpose AR as a tool to control a dialogue between the designer and the CAD system and the system aiding decision making could be used. The system should allow visualization of data about: existing constructional solutions, symptoms of failures and inefficiencies (e.g. exceeded limit of vibrations, noise, temperature, pressure etc.) in a previous version of a product, algorithms of design processes of a selected group of machinery systems (e.g. mobile robots) or machinery parts and elements, critical points of the design process etc. In the case of 3D models (not only, but especially) should be possible to display them in any scale (especially 1:1 scale) with the possibility of viewing from any perspective in a very intuitive way.

3. The Prototype System for Aiding Designers The system presented in the paper belongs to a group of personal designer’s assistants. A characteristic feature of the tool is application of augmented reality techniques. The authors carried out an implementation of the prototype

system for a design process of mobile robots. Although, it is also possible to build the system for any machinery systems.

3.1 Components and Architecture of the System The basic component of the implemented system is a computer with MS-Windows® XP system installed. The computer runs Dassault Systemes CATIA V5R19 (modeling software) and a special elaborated AR application. The HMD with a small USB camera attached is connected to a video card of the computer. The video camera captures video of the real world and sends it to the computer. HMD allows to see data from the computer (e.g. 3D models, text etc.) in real environment surrounding the user (Januszka and Moczulski 2006). The user wears the HMD with the video camera attached, so that when she/he looks at the tracking card with a special marker through the HMD a virtual object is seen on it (fig. 2). A very important and difficult part of the AR system proposed by the authors is software. The presented system consists of the following (fig. 3): ARToolKit tracking libraries, VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) parser, expert system (system aiding decision making) with database, Dassault Systemes CATIA V5R19 (modeling software), a main application to integrate all software components and to realize system functions. The database contains 3D models (in CATPart or VRML formats) and the others sources of data (drawings, spreadsheets, diagrams etc.). In the system, all software components are integrated. If necessary, software components communicate with each other and transmit data (e.g. CATIA

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

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Figure 2 System for aiding the designer of machinery systems (components) (Januszka and Moczulski 2010) system can transmit new data to a database, a database can transmit existing data to CATIA system or the system for aiding decision making).

Figure 3 Organization chart of the system The system base on the public-domain augmented reality tracking library called ARToolKit (from HIT Lab (HitLab 2011)) with LibVRML97 parser for reading and viewing VRML files. ARToolKit is a software library that uses computer vision techniques to precisely

overlay VRML models (3D models, text, pictures etc.) onto the real world. For that purpose software uses markers. Each marker shows a different digitally-encoded pattern on it, so that a unique identification of each marker is possible. In the presented conception the markers are printed on cards. We can compute the user’s head location as soon as the given marker is tracked by the optical tracking system. Finally the main application allows the display of data superimposed on the real world (exactly on the card with the marker position and orientation). The process of video-based marker detection and overlay of virtual objects by ARToolKit presents fig. 4. An important aspect of the presented system is usability and user-friendlyness. The main features of the software are controllable by an easy to use graphical user interface. Various features were included when implementing the structure of the GUI, simplicity being the most important. The user interface consists of graphical elements such as windows, menus,

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

Figure 4 The process of video-based marker detection and overlay of virtual objects (Januszka and Moczulski 2007) radio buttons, check boxes. The user interface employs a keyboard to input data (future research will aim at using another input devices, eg virtual hands and gesture control). An elaborated graphical user interface (GUI) enables, among others, the following: (Januszka and Moczulski 2010):  update of knowledge in a knowledgebase (by a Knowledge Engineer),  viewing instructions regarding stages of a design process of a mobile robot (the system aids the designer in a design process) and solutions proposed by an expert system,  previewing of data from a database (tables, drawings, pictures, text, voice or video information),



use (by export to CAD system) of existing 3D models to improve them,  viewing of results of a designer's work (e.g. 3D models, results of simulations: kinematics, structural strength, thermal strength), in AR mode etc. All displayed information (especially 3D models) could be viewed in the real environment in full 3D mode and 1:1 scale.

3.2 Functions of the System In the presented conception of the system the user with HMD on the head sits in front of a computer. The user looks in the direction of the card with marker(s) through HMD and virtual objects are seen onto this card. As virtual objects the text information, 3D models, pictures, catalogue tables, drawings from the database or

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

instructions from the knowledgebase could be displayed (fig. 5). Information displayed with the use of AR system are very helpful for the designer. At the same time the user can design the mobile robot in CATIA CAD system. The user can view models of existing robots or components of robots in AR mode (in 1:1 scale, from any perspective). It is possible to export/import these parts between modeling software CATIA V5R19 and AR system. The designer in the CATIA’s workplane can see the part and simultaneously this part could be seen in AR mode (fig. 6). The designer can evaluates the design and if necessary goes back to the modeling in order to correct and improve the details (Klinker et al. 2002). When the design process is accomplished the user can preview results of his/her work in AR environment. The designer can manually manipulate the model for inspection. It is also possible to export the models with results of analysis e.g. strength analysis and the others. Analysis can be performed with the use of FEM method in CATIA system. The results of analysis are presented in the form of animated and interactive virtual 3D models in AR mode,

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instead on a flat computer monitor. Other designers can sit around a table with a marker and examine the design of a robot in a threedimensional virtual image of the 3D model. Designers can inspect models of products, walk around it, and compare it with other models just like they are used to looking at real (physical) objects. An inspection is possible from any viewpoint where each person has their own viewpoint to the model. They are also free to interact with the model in real time.

3.3 Designer’s Assistant One of the goals of the implemented system was to aid the designer of machinery systems in designing more reliable and durable mobile robots for customer satisfaction. For that purpose the system should deliver helpful information to the user during designing. Information in the proposed system should be viewed in the real environment from any perspective in a very efficient and intuitive way. This approach enables the user to analyze and verify some solution (represented as 3D models) relative to real scenes/objects. This approach is advantageous because the real environment

Figure 5 Previewing data from database during designing

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

Figure 6 Previewing results of a designer’s work and manually manipulating the model for inspection (Januszka and Moczulski, 2010) around us often provides lots of information that is difficult to duplicate in a computer. In the presented system knowledge (necessary during design process) to the knowledgebase is inscribed in the knowledgebase thanks to an electronic form. Design knowledge is acquired from: domain experts, a professional/scientific literature or results of research (exploitation, laboratory etc.) collected in databases (Moczulski 1997). Initially, the knowledge is expressed verbally. A verbal statement is transformed to an expression that can be executed by the system. Knowledge to a knowledge base is added, modified and updated with the use of a knowledge base editor by a knowledge engineer. Knowledge (represented in the form of procedures and rules) and data are used in the design process to eliminate causes of failures and inefficiencies in future products. Nevertheless, further research can be applicable to system methodologies such

as MOCA. An unique approach called MOCA (Methodology and Tools for Knowledge Based Engineering) can support procedures to interview experts, ontological schemas to organise knowledge and tools for representing and publishing knowledge across the organization (Stokes 2001, Bermell-Garcia and Fan 2008). Data is collected in the database. The designer can take advantage of data or knowledge as often as needed. These data should be concerned about existing constructional solutions. Data adequate to solve problems are displayed in a real environment around the user while he/she is making decisions. These data could be used by the user to design new products or improve existing constructional solutions in order to increase reliability. The discussed system allow for displaying data in AR mode in the following forms:

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

 3D models,  drawing documentation,  diagrams,  BOM’s,  spreadsheets with calculation models,  catalogue data (text and picture data). In the database the data is also collected (if required) in form of sounds. The expert system delivers to the designer knowledge about successive steps of the design process of a mobile robot and practical solutions of realized constructional problems. The expert system uses rules to make deductions or choices. A rule-based system is used to help make engineering decision making more reliable. The rule-based system contains a rule base which is a specific type of knowledge base. The rule base contains the following example rules:  IF Robot is small THEN Robot is made from aluminum (CF: +80%),  IF Robot is able to move in a varied terrain THEN Robot has caterpillar drive (CF: +70%),  IF Robot is shockproof THEN Robot has brushless DC electric motor (CF: +99%),  IF Drive system is simple THEN Drive system is four-wheeled (CF: +99%). A forward chaining method of reasoning when using inference rules is used. A CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System) a public domain software tool was used for building the expert system. A CLIPS expert systems shell is a complete development environment for building and maintaining knowledge-based applications. The CLIPS shell

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was used in probably first knowledge-based augmented reality system called IBIS (Feiner et al. 1993). A user interface from the expert system shell is integrated with a main GUI. In simplification, after entering necessary input parameters (e.g. an approximate size, speed or application of the robot), it is possible to choose a constructional solution proposed by the system (fig. 7). The proposed solution as a 3D model is exported to the CATIA’s workplane. The designer develops a new constructional solution based on the basic solution proposed by the system. At each stage of the design process the designer can preview the results of his/her work in the AR environment. Moreover the user is able to verify elaborated solution relative to real scenes/objects (e.g. a dimensional analysis in order to check the robot ability to drive between two obstacles). The system aids the designer in decision making with the use of a modern AR communication human-computer interface. Prompts inferred by the expert system after user acceptance are automatically applied in a developed product. The system is designed not only to solve some problems in designing process but it is also used as application leading the process. A characteristic of the system is the ability to deliver to the designer knowledge about successive steps of the design process of a mobile robot. The expert system aids the designer only in qualitative way (qualitative visual analysis of design aspects). Future research are going to aid the designer

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

Figure 7 Application of system aiding decision making in the design process

also in more advanced way. For example, solutions proposed by the system will be able to automatically influence some parameters of the virtual 3D model, e.g. choice of a new size of DC motor will cause a change of motor mounts etc.

4. Verification The verification of the system was realized only in an easy way because of early stage of the system development. The system evaluation was carried out only on the base of special forms (questionnaires) completed by designers after an experiment. The findings are principally derived from an empirical study into the perceptions of using AR technology for mechanical design

activity. Within a framework of a verification of research, some experiments depend on realization of a complete design process of a mobile robot were carried out. Experiments were realized with the use of presented in this article system and without. Some experienced (Group 1) and non-experienced (Group 2) designers were selected to take part in the experiment (total 15 designers). One of the goal of the verification was to confirm that with the use of the system it was possible to reduce product development time. As a result of using the system the designer has the possibility to choose a faster way to develop an optimal constructional solution. Sometimes solution proposed by the system is

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

also a better solution to the problem than when the user does not use the system. For example, the system can give advice that in specific conditions application of caterpillar drive instead of four-wheeled drive is worse. Nonexperienced designers have more efficient access to knowledge, so they are able to finish the design process faster than designers which don’t use the presented system. Efficiency of the system was confirmed, thanks to shortening development time of an elaborated product (mobile robot):  in the case of experienced designers the development time was shortened about 10%,  in the case of non-experienced designers the time was shortened about 20%. A controlled experiment dependent upon realization of a design process is prohibitively difficult or impossible. In the current state of development of the system, the authors resorted to natural experiments. The natural experiments relied solely on observations of the development

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of a time variable. Experiments took place in a natural environment (design office). To the degree possible, the authors tried to collect data for the system in such a way that contributions from all variables was determined, and where the effects of variation in certain variables remained approximately constant so that the effects of other variables could be discerned. Questionnaires were designed and administered in order to identify the advantages derived from AR technology. Questions were organized as product-related, process-related and open essay questions. Questionnaires were designed to be completed based on subjective experiences and feelings during the experiment. Summary of the empirical study presents table 1. In open essay questions respondents specified another important advantages of the variations of an existing product. The system can be used to superimpose modifications on AR system. One of the advantages of the presented system is in connection with an existing real product without needing to model the entire existing part. The user can compare

Table. 1 Fragmentary results of a statistical survey Questions Does AR system better facilitate product development and design decision-making? Does AR system help you to understand and interpret the inputs of your design collaborators? Does AR system better facilitate spatial cognition during the design process? Does AR system have positive impact on quality of design output? Does AR system improve designs presentations and therefore have value-added impact? Does AR systems help in reducing lead-time and costs without producing physical Mock-Ups? Y- Yes, N- No, Y/N- I don’t know

Yes [%]

GROUP 1 Y/N No [%] [%]

Y [%]

GROUP 2 Y/N N [%] [%]

75

12,5

12,5

85,7

14,3

0

87,5

12,5

0

100

0

0

87,5

12,5

0

85,7

14,3

0

62,5

25

12,5

71,4

14,3

14,3

75

25

0

100

0

0

75

25

0

85,7

14,3

0

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

some elaborated constructional solutions in relation to real product. As well, realized experiments confirm that the application of an AR system in some cases could be an optimal way to verify developed products. In an example presented in fig. 8 a virtual model of a mobile inspection robot was developed. In a verification phase the designer intend to prove that the inspection robot is able to enter to a robot transporter (e.g. verification of a dimensions of the inspection robot). For that purpose the designer can use the AR system. In this case it is not necessary to elaborate the model of the robot transporter because it is possible to use a real robot transporter. We can use the real robot

transporter and virtual model of the inspection robot. Detailed verifications will be realized during further development of the system, and the authors are going to present the results in successive publications.

5. Conclusions and Future Work The development of AR technology in design (but not only, also in maintenance and diagnostics) has been initiated by the author and research team from Department of Fundamentals of Machinery Design few years ago (Januszka and Moczulski 2006). The results of research confirm advantages from application of AR techniques in a design domain.

Figure 8 An example of verification process for the elaborated inspection robot

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

In this paper, the authors present a system which belongs to a group of personal designer’s assistant. The presented system delivers helpful information and some constructional solutions to the user during designing. A characteristic feature of the tool is the application of augmented reality techniques enabling the visualisation of virtual content (3D models, diagrams, tables, pictures etc.) in real environment in front of the user. The authors outline an approach to integrate AR into the product development process. Implementation of the prototype system for a design process of mobile robots was described. The presented system is in an early stage of development. However, advantages of a system based on AR confirm the future possibility of introducing augmented reality technology in design engineering enterprises (especially those of small and medium size). Using a presented AR system in CAD brings some advantages. First of all, the user has the possibility to preview data (especially 3D models) in real environment, directly around users at any place, from any perspective (each of designers have own perspective), and in any scale. AR also gives the possibility of totally interacting with the displayed data by manipulation of position and orientation in a space around the user. It was proved (see also (Shin et al. 2005)) that perception of 3D designs is better when changing views by observer movement than by model rotation (e.g. with the use of the standard monitor). The AR mode for changing views of data - especially 3D models allows the user to understand the prospective system in a more comprehensive way, thus making the design process more efficient than

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the one supported by conventional present-day CAD systems. The designer has the possibility for fast and efficient verification of designed products in order to increase reliability. Results of research confirm other particular advantages derived from the presented system using AR techniques, especially:  extended efficiency of direct access to data and knowledge which is necessary during a design process,  possibility of aiding decision making and delivering detailed design algorithms to improve reliability of designer machinery systems,  an improved mechanism of making full use of existing knowledge and data (possibility of importing/exporting data between a knowledgebase/database and CAD system),  possibility of presenting data necessary during a design process (e.g. tables, results of research, schemes, 3D models) and results of this process (e.g. final 3D models) in efficient way, with possibility of interaction with these data and viewing from any perspective and also in any scale (also 1:1 scale). The results of verification show that designers agree that an AR system helps them to better understand and interpret the inputs of a design process without a physical Mock-Up and help in reducing product development time and costs. Natural experiments confirm the reduction of product development time of approximately 10÷20% in relation to processes without the use of virtual technologies. The presented system, as in the case e.g. Ford’s virtual reality cave, is helping the company's product engineers

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng (2011) 20(3): 294-309

evaluate design before production. Ford’s lab reduces the need to build physical prototypes and trims thousands of dollars and several months off the product development process (Ford Motor Company 2009). Moreover, in the opinion of the designers, AR systems have a positive impact on the quality of design output (also due to the benefit of the integrated system aiding in decision making). Adapting AR to practical uses is connected with various problems (see reports included in (Ong and Nee 2004)), especially concerning hardware technologies. Our experience with the system has suggested research of problem with tracking technology (e.g. marker identification) and the quality of the visualization process that need to be explored. However, these problems are raised by other researchers (see (Zhou et al. 2008)) and our study didn’t encounter these problems. Although, there are still some problems to solve, but for industrial partners to be interested in investing into this technology its possible benefit and its integration into the whole company has to be visible. There are several open issues related to the proposals presented in this paper that need further study. Future work includes further system development, user tests, and evaluations. One of the possible issues which could be studied is how the knowledge should be managed in general. Further research can be applicable to advanced methodologies such as MOCA. In our opinion, future research should cause further rationalization of the design process: shortening product development time, reducing product development costs. Next (more technical) issue relates to the use of VRML files. A standard VRML format

(especially for internet presentations) for AR system is easy to read but does not support advanced lighting and texturing (Liarokapis 2007). For this reason, the authors will use another format for future 3D models, e.g. 3ds. Moreover, to improve the realism of the AR scene a fast algorithm for planar shadows and reflections should be implemented. As well, an aspect that requires more study is related to one of the most interesting phases of the product development process: conceptual design. In modern approach for conceptual design it is important to explore (create and edit) and present ideas in an easy way. For that purpose the authors are going to apply augmented reality techniques in conceptual design. If possible AR should aid the designer in creating conceptions (sketches, models etc.) directly in real environment, comparing theirs and selecting optimal one.

6. Acknowledgment The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and helpful suggestions to improve the quality of this paper.

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Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, pp. 191-196, Gaithersburg, Maryland, September 23-25, 2002, National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Dunston, P.S.& Bilinghurst, M. & Luo, Y. & Hampson, B. (2000). Virtual visualization for the mechanical trade. International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, pp. 1131-1136, September 1820, 2000, National Taiwan University.  Feiner, S. & MacIntyre, B. & Seligmann, D. (1993). Knowledge-based Augmented Reality. Communications of the ACM, 36(7): 53-62.  Ford Motor Company (2009). Improving New Product Development Process. Sustainability Report 2009/10. Available at: . Cited May 25, 2011.  HITLab at the University of Washington ARToolKit Documentation. Available at: . Cited January 24, 2011.  Januszka, M. & Moczulski, W. (2010). Augmented reality for machinery systems design and development. In: Pokojski, J., Fukuda, S., Salwinski, J. (eds.), New World Situation – New Directions in Concurent Engineering (Advanced Concurent Engineering Series), pp. 79-86, Springer; Berlin Heidelberg.  Januszka, M. & Moczulski, W. (2007). Machinery design aided by augmented reality technology. Computer Assisted Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, 14: 621-630.

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 Januszka, M. & Moczulski, W. (2006). Collaborative augmented reality in CAD design. Machine Dynamics Problems, 30(3): 124-131.  Klinker, G. & Dutoit, A. H. & Bauer, M. & Bayer, J. & Novak, V. & Matzke, D. (2002). Fata Morgana – A Presentation System for Product Design. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, pp.76-85, Darmstadt, Sept. 30 - Oct. 1, 2002, IEEE Computer Society.  Liarokapis, F. (2007). An augmented reality interface for visualizing and interacting with virtual content. Virtual Reality, 11: 23-43.  Milgram, P. & Takemura, H. & Utsumi, A. & Kishino, F. (1994). Augmented reality: a class of displays on the reality-virtuality continuum. Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies, 2351:282-292.  Moczulski, W. (1997). Methods of Knowledge Acquisition for the needs of machinery diagnostics (Monograph, in Polish). Publishing House of Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice.  Moczulski, W. & Panfil, W. & Januszka, M. & Mikulski, G. (2007). Applications of augmented reality in machinery design, maintenance and diagnostics. In: Jablonski, R., Turkowski, M., Szewczyk, R. (eds.), Recent Advantages in Mechatronics, pp. 5256, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.  Novak Marcincin, J. (2007). Augmented virtual reality applications in manufacturing systems. International Multidisciplinary Conference. pp. 565-572, Baia Mare (Romania) . May 17-18, 2007, North University of Baia Mare.

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 Navab, N. (2004). Developing Killer Apps for Industrial Augmented Reality. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications; 24(3): 16-20.  Nölle, S. & Klinker, G. (2006). Augmented Reality as a Comparison Tool in Automotive Industry. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, pp. 249-250, Santa Barbara, USA, October 22-25, 2006, IEEE Computer Society.  Ong, S.K. & Nee, A.Y.C. (eds.) (2004). Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications in Manufacturing. Springer.  Oprzedkiewicz, J. (1993). Computer-aiding in reliability of machines (in Polish). WNT, Warsaw.  Regenbrecht, H. & Baratoff, G. & Wilke, W. (2005). Augmented Reality Projects in the Automotive and Aerospace Industries. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 25(6): 48-56.  Shin, D.H. & Dunston, P.S. & Wang, X. (2005). View changes in Augmented Reality Computer-Aided-Drawing. ACM Transactions on Applied Perceptions, 2(1): 114.  Skarka, W. (2007). Methodology of knowledge-based engineering (Monograph, in Polish). Publishing House of Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice.  Stokes M. (ed.) (2001). Managing Engineering Knowledge. MOKA: Methodology for Knowledge-Based Engineering Applications. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York.  Wang, X. & Dunston, P.S. (2006). Potential of Augmented Reality as an Assistant Viewer for Computer-Aided Drawing. Journal of

Computing in Civil Engineering, 20(4): 437441.  Zhou, F. & Ben-Lim Duh, H. & Billinghurst, M. (2008). Trends in Augmented Reality Tracking, Interaction and Display: a Review of Ten Years of ISMAR. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, pp. 193-202, Cambridge, September 15-18, 2008 IEEE Computer Society. Marcin Januszka is currently a Ph.D. student in Departament of Fundamentals of Machinery Design at Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice (Poland). His research interests include augmented and virtual reality technologies, methods in computer-aided design, design of mobile robots. His current research topic is application of augmented reality in product development process. He received his M.Sc. degree in Management and Production Engineering from the Silesian Univerity of Technology (Poland) in 2007. He has participated in several research projects in the field of mobile robotics and virtual reality. Wojciech Moczulski is a professor in the Department of Fundamentals of Machinery Design at Silesian University of Technology at Gliwice (Poland). His researches are focused on: design and operation of the machines, computer science, particularly in machinery diagnostics and application of methods and means of Artificial Intelligence. He is author and coauthor of over 130 publications. He is the holder of scholarship of Humboldt’s Foundation at University in Paderborn (Germany). He managed researches at Wichita State University

Januszka and Moczulski: Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems J Syst Sci Syst Eng

and University of North Carolina in Charlotte (USA) and many others. Since 2005 he has been Associated Editor of “Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence”. Since 2002 he has been serving as Organizing Committee Chair of

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the international Symposium on Methods of Artificial Intelligence (AI-METH). He is founder and member of the Central Board of the Polish Society of Technical Diagnostics.