Augmented Reality in Assembly Systems: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Assembly represents a fundamental step in manufacturing, being a time-consuming and costly process, on which the final quality of the product mostly depends. Augmented Reality (AR) may represent a key tool to assist workers during assembly, thanks to the possibility to provide the user of real-time instructions and information superimposed on the work environment. Many implementations have been developed by industries and academic institutions for both manual and collaborative assembly. Among the most remarkable examples of the last few years are applications in guidance of complex tasks, training of personnel, quality control and inspection. This keynote paper aims to provide a useful survey by reviewing recent applications of AR in assembly systems, describing potential advantages, as well as current limitations and future perspectives.