Georgia Tech Research News - July 2005
Missing Link
Augmented Reality Technology May Bridge Communication Gap in Poultry Processing Plants
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Researchers Simeon Harbert (left), Blair Macintyre (center) and Parth Bhawalkar have developed two augmented reality systems to improve communication between an automated poultry inspection system and the workers who trim birds on a processing line.
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Technology that transfers computer-generated information
onto the physical world is being tested for use in poultry plants
to improve communication between computers and workers.
Using augmented reality (AR) technology, researchers have designed
two systems that project graphical instructions from an automated
inspection system onto birds on a processing line. These symbols tell
workers how to trim or whether to discard defective products.
Right now, inspection is done visually by human screeners, who communicate
instructions to trimmers using gestures. But an automated inspection
system developed and field tested by the Georgia Tech Research Institute
(GTRI) is being commercialized, and poultry plant officials are likely
to implement the technology in the near term, said J. Craig Wyvill,
head of the GTRI Food Technology Processing Division.
“
When that happens, the industry will need an efficient way to link
communication from the imaging system to the trimmers,” Wyvill
noted.
So in a project funded by GTRI’s state-supported Agricultural
Technology Research Program, GTRI researchers are collaborating with
experts in the Georgia Tech College of Computing to use AR technology
in poultry plants. AR applications have been successfully demonstrated
in industrial assembly and inspection, as well as the medical field.
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One augmented reality system developed at Georgia Tech uses a location-tracked, see-through, head-mounted display (foreground) worn by poultry workers. It directly overlays graphical instructions on a trimmer’s view of the birds. A second solution uses a laser scanner, mounted in a fixed location near the processing line, to project graphical instructions (red square on bird illustration) directly onto each bird that requires some action, such as trimming.
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“It’s easy to see this technology working in a poultry
plant,” said Blair Macintyre, an assistant professor in the
Georgia Tech College of Computing and augmented reality (AR) expert. “The
question is, ‘What is the best implementation of the technology
to satisfy the environmental constraints?’”
Researchers have had to consider that poultry processing plants are
typically wet and slippery and have to be thoroughly washed down with
high-pressured water streams daily. Also, trimmers need simple, graphical
instructions and must have their hands free of any object except a
knife for cutting defective bird parts.
Two AR solutions developed by Macintyre and colleagues Parth Bhawalkar,
a College of Computing graduate student, and Simeon Harbert, a GTRI
research engineer, address these requirements. Macintyre will describe
them in a presentation on July 17 at the annual meeting of the American
Society of Agricultural Engineers in Tampa, Fla.
The first approach uses a location-tracked, see-through, head-mounted
display worn by a trimmer. It directly overlays graphical instructions
on a trimmer’s view of the birds.
A second solution uses a laser scanner, mounted in a fixed location
near the processing line, to project graphical instructions directly
onto each bird that requires some action, such as trimming. In this
approach, the product, but not the user, must be tracked for the instructions
to appear on the product.
“Each solution appears to have advantages and disadvantages,” Macintyre
said. One of the greatest benefits that both solutions provide is
the potential for advance warning to trimmers of the workload coming
down the line, he added. Current practices don’t provide this
advantage.
“
But our suspicion is that the laser-based system is the more practical
in the near term and potentially in the long term,” Macintyre
said. “The real disadvantage of the head-mounted system is
its cost. Heads-up displays cost about $3,600, but they are getting
cheaper.
Two years ago, they cost about $7,000 each.”
Researchers plan to conduct laboratory experiments this fall with
the two proof-of-concept prototypes they have designed. Experiments
are expected to uncover the potential benefits or drawbacks of each
AR application.
“
The experiments are designed to have the same task, cognitive and
physical load as an actual trimmer would have,” Macintyre noted. “We’ll
use students or employees as the trimmers in our experiment. If our
results are compelling, then we’d like to test the technologies
in a poultry plant with actual trimmers.”
Researchers will likely choose one of the two solutions to develop
further based on economics and logistics, Macintyre said.
It may be several years before the technology is commercially available,
Wyvill noted. The typical technology development time is four to six
years; this project has been under way for more than a year now.
“
But once the poultry industry implements automated inspection systems,
it will need this communication link,” Wyvill added. “This
is kind of like a chess game. We’re well down the line on
imaging and automation technology. But we need a communication system
to get
information to people who remain on the processing line.”
Wyvill and the researchers have high expectations for the AR technologies. “We
think these technologies have the potential to be better than current
practices,” Macintyre said. “But, two humans working
together over time have learned to use non-verbal cues and have
developed a
smooth communication system. That will be hard to beat at some level.
“
The big advantage of these technologies is that we’ll be able
to show the trimmers what is about to come down the line,” he
added. “Right now, they basically get little warning. If they
know nothing is coming, they can take advantage of momentary lulls
to do other tasks, such as cleaning up and sharpening their knives.” |
