Augmented Reality Application to Support Remote Maintenance as a Service in the Robotics Industry

Maintenance of manufactured products is among the most common services in industry and its cost often exceed 30% of the operating costs. Modern manufacturing companies are shifting their focus from products to combined ecosystem of Products- Service Systems (PSS). Towards that end, the main objective of this work is to develop a cloud-based service-oriented system that implements AR technology for remote maintenance by enabling cooperation between the on- spot technician and the manufacturer. The proposed system includes the methods for the record of the malfunction by the end user, the actions required by the expert so as to provide instructions in an Augmented Reality application for maintenance, as well as the cloud- based platform that will allow their communication and the exchange of information. In addition to the above, the proposed system consists of smart assembly/disassembly algorithms for automated generation of assembly sequences and AR scenes and improved interface, aiming to maximize existing knowledge usage while creating vivid AR service instructions. The proposed system is validated in a real-life case study following the requirements of a robotics SME.