Augmented reality system for aiding engineering design process of machinery systems

The paper presents the application of augmented reality for aiding product design and development of machinery systems. Augmented reality technology integrates an interactive computer-generated word with an interactive real word in such a way that they appear as one environment. AR technology can enhance a user's perception of the real world with information that is not actually part of the scene but is relevant to the user's present activity. Presented in the AR system is a mode for changing views of data - especially 3D models - allowing the user to understand the prospective machinery system in a more comprehensive way, thus making the design process more efficient than the one supported by conventional present-day CAD systems. The presented prototype system contains an expert system integrated with AR system and allows the delivering of knowledge to the designer about successive steps of the design process of a mobile robot and practical solutions of realized constructional problems. An approach concerning AR enables the system user to analyze and verify solutions (represented as 3D models) relative to real scenes/objects. This approach is advantageous because the real environment around us often provides a vast amount of information that is difficult to duplicate in a computer. In some cases, the application of an AR system could be an optimal way to verify developed products.