Högskolan i Skövde

The concept of sustainability is gaining visibility in recent years. Both society and companies are increasing their interest in every of its social, environmental, and economic dimensions. This interest is one of the reasons why the Circular Economy is escalating. One of the goals of this model of production and consumption is waste reduction through the creation of a closed-loop chain, where remanufacturing has a crucial role. Despite the benefits of remanufacturing, this process increases the complexity of the task, limiting access to this job due to the high level of knowledge required. This is the reason why Augmented Reality is presented in this thesis as a method to assist operators by guiding them and providing real-time feedback interactively. The main goal is to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and accessibility of this task. At the same time, this project aims to contribute to all dimensions of sustainability to a greater or lesser extent.

To meet the objectives mentioned above, and keeping in mind the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), an artifact is created. The case of study is an assembly operation reproduced in the IRMA-demonstrator in ASSAR Innovation Arena in Skövde (Sweden). A set of Augmented Reality instructions have been designed to guide the operator through the assembly task. First, with the help of the software provided by Microsoft, Dynamics 365 Guides, and afterward, by using Unity. The software is compared, and an attempt is made to justify the implementation of AR, specifically in the remanufacturing assembly task. The results seem to point to a reduction of errors in the operation. Finally, conclusions are extracted based on previous studies and the analysis of the design and implementation of the set of instructions.