The role of wearable devices in meeting the needs of cloud manufacturing: A case study

Cloud manufacturing is a service-oriented, customer-centric and demand-driven process with well-established industrial automation. Even though, it does not necessarily mean the absence of human beings. Due to products and their corresponding manufacturing processes becoming increasingly complex, operators' daily working lives are also becoming more difficult. Enhanced human-machine interaction is one of the core areas for the success of the next generation of manufacturing. However, the current research only focuses on the automation and flexibility features of cloud manufacturing, the interaction between human and machine and the value co-creation among operators is missing. Therefore, a new method is needed for operators to support their work, with the objective of reducing the time and cost of machine control and maintenance. This paper describes a practical demonstration that uses the technologies of the Internet of things (IoT), wearable technologies, augmented reality, and cloud storage to support operators' activities and communication in discrete factories. This case study exhibits the capabilities and user experience of smart glasses in a cloud manufacturing environment, and shows that smart glasses help users stay productive and engaged.