Additive Manufacturing (AM) has a great potential of disrupting product design and supply chains in many industries by means of its unique capabilities when compared to traditional manufacturing. A wide range of designers would like to take advantage of AM to improve their designs, but they need assistance in learning and breaking out of their conventional manufacturing mindset in the early phases of the design process. Therefore, this study explores the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance the learning experience of the existing Design Heuristics for Additive Manufacturing using Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) cards. In this study, we propose a modification of DfAM cards to include AR markers into the existing card design and hence provide a comprehensive visualization along with the information about heuristics and examples on the DfAM cards. This helps the user to understand the real-world structure of the final printed product before it is printed. The cross-platform game engine Unity is used for developing the AR models for this research. We also investigate the advantages that AR can provide as a visual interface. An expert review is conducted to obtain development feedback and a trial training session with students is carried out. The student evaluated positively the use of the AR app in their DfAM lecture and exercise.
Since the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region is currently undergoing a structural change towards a CO2 neutral energy supply, the use of additive manufacturing (AM) can offer great potential to produce in a more sustainable way. AM can also offer opportunities for industry with regard to other aspects, since production complexity can also be reduced, and time-to-market shortened at the same time. Against this background of increasing importance of AM, this study has the focus to find out what competencies an employee in AM should have in order to establish him/herself in this area in the future and successfully use AM in the industry. For this purpose, problem-centered and guided expert interviews were conducted with 19 experts from different industries. The interviews were then transcribed and evaluated using Mayring’s content analysis. A key finding of this work is that knowledge of technology and materials, the ability to part identification, and a basic understanding of the process chain in AM are among the most important hard skills for a future employee in AM. Regarding soft skills, the willingness to openly exchange ideas, the ability to work in a team in conjunction with good communication skills, a conscientious approach to work and the right mindset are emphasized. In conclusion, regarding structural change in NRW, it is clear from the interviews that the experts particularly suggest opportunities in the area of sustainability, but also greater collaboration within companies and universities involved in AM.
Virtual try-on applications came to market not too long ago to be a supportive part of online shopping, allowing consumers to try clothes or accessories on before making the purchase. This kind of applications proved to be highly useful in decreasing return rates of the products. More and more online markets are using AR technology to improve the shopping experience of consumers in fashion field. However, AR technology should be able to do more than making products more attractive, especially in the medical field. Finding an orthosis product that both satisfies the medical requirement and has an appealing design has always been hard for patients with physical inconvenience, especially during corona time. Traditionally, consumers first need to make a mould in a physical orthosis store, then they have to make multiple trips to the store to keep giving suggestions to the staff of how the orthosis needs to be adjusted, until they are satisfied with the final product. This process takes a long time, since orthosis are usually hand-made, and the adjustment process could be frustrating for the orthosis consumers. To go to the physical store, orthosis consumers have to tolerate the time spent on the way, limited choices of design to try on in each store, and the risk of corona infection due to close contact with people over there. The producers also have to cover for the wear-out samples, the time it takes for multiple discussion on improvements, as well as taking the risk of the patients not liking the design after production. A virtual orthosis try-on application is the best solution to satisfy both sides, it bridges the gap between orthosis consumers and the producers. This application would make individualization of orthosis products easier, saving the time of communications and possible miscommunications. Moreover, this app make the digitalized production line to be more appealing and trustworthy to orthosis consumers. The orthosis model is automatically generated with the 3D scan of the consumers' leg, then the consumers use this application to try on different designs and colours, and the final product can be additive manufactured after they made their choice. In this way, consumers do not need to go to the physical store anymore, saving much time and effort. The try-on application was first designed and assigned functions that it is supposed to achieve using design thinking methods, then designed and build with game engine Unity, which has many ready-to-use packages, together with the tracking technology from the Vuforia engine. Both Marker-less and Marker-based tracking were tried out during the development. Marker-based tracking were chosen in the end for a more satisfying end-product. Finally, a preference test was made for a better version of this application with a controlled group.A marker-based Android application was successfully made after many trails. Consumers only need to place two QR codes on both sides of their thighs, then they can view the augmented orthosis from different angles on the camera of a personal Android device, choose the design patterns and colours of the orthosis model by simple clicks on the user interface, and select the model that attracts them the most.
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