Hey Guys, I'm an engineer considering customizing a pair of AR/Smart glasses for use by excavator/crane operators. One idea is pairing the glasses up with cameras, so that the operator sees blind spots (lifts, drops, demolition) through the video feed on the glasses instead of having to look down at a display in the cabin. I'm leaning towards an application where the operator simply has various important machine info, data and alerts streamed to the glasses rather than video. This would help the operator avoid looking around the controls and displays around the cabin for important information/data. Would any of these applications be helpful to operators? Which of these two applications would be more helpful? How much time would the second application help an operator save (if any) Per event? Per day? Any suggestions of what information/data would be very helpful to display on the smart glasses? I'd love to hear from any operators. Your opinion will be very valuable!!
Would the glasses be universal or equipment specific? Who would pay for it?
End user as always.
Thanks for your question! I am thinking about Cranes and Excavators for now but could lean towards a universal solution, or address other heavy equipment along the line. My guess is that the contractor/equipment owner would be the one purchasing a device like this. If you have a moment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the questions I posed
A lot of the glasses would have to be prescription , thus no sharing . My last pair cost $300
Sounds to me to be a complicated way to see a blind spot that could be done with a camera and a monitor in the cab using existing technology for a lot less money. That would work regardless of operator. You still need to set remote cameras. All the machine information is fine where its at now. The important ones already have alerts. I would not care for them to pop up in my eyes when I may be doing something critical.
Perhaps rethink your strategy. Maybe a good heads up display on the windscreen. If you wanted to get fancy, have some type of eye tracker to place the display where you are looking. This could be beneficial for crane operators looking up at the ball/block/load and signal man. For example most cranes have the LMI on the right or below the windscreen. If he could see his extension, angle and load on block in his line of sight this could keep his eyes on load. As old iron stated, this is gonna be something to appeal to the younger generation of operators. The elders won't give it a second thought. Hell, I bet most still operate by the pucker factor . Now excavating, that would be another animal. There are already back cams and mirrors, but I could see where this would benefit in tight spaces like Chicago lot foundation digging or operating against jerseys in a high traffic highway setting. But , with that said, the trend seems to be going towards zero swing. So, I don't think you'll get that product line. I think you have a really good idea, I just think it's gonna be a hazard sell.
Hard sell. Stupid autocorrect
I like the way you're thinking, but I think you're coming up with a solution to a nonexistent problem. If you look at a crane cab from today, and 1970's, they really aren't that different. Controls/ gauges are pretty much the same. We use some joysticks instead of long levers, and present some more info on the current lmi, but its still the same stuff- Boom up, boom down, swing left, swing right, cable up, cable down. Lift too much and a buzzer/ light sounds and it shuts you down. I think that they've had these sorts of issues in the new fighter planes, and discuss it as situational awareness information overload. They present too much information to the pilots that they loose sight of the important stuff. I don't need more stuff coming in my line of sight. I can see a warning light in the cab as well as I can on my glasses, and if a different operator is running the crane tomorrow, I don't have to worry about switching glasses. I also regularly lose and scratch my 3m el cheapo safety glasses. I don't want to deal with a $2,000 google glasses. I certainly don't want the view of the back up/ rear facing camera imposing on my view, because its motion sensor detected someone driving a dump truck behind the crane, when I'm trying to set a transformer that's right in front of me. Thanks, but I'd rather decide myself what I want to look at. I think a lot of times, I need less distractions in the cab, not more.
I was thinking they would be a distraction when you really need to watch and pay attention to something critical.
I think when pipelines and cables are mapped with sub-inch accuracy as they are installed with the likes of a 3D GPS laser scanners. This information could be then be feed to a heads up unit so the excavator operator is not digging 'blind', even though cables etc might shift their location due to subsidence and underground erosion etc. rio tinto, remotely operated mining trucks - 'operators/ truck monitoring done from 900 miles from the mine) fmg solomon mine caterpillar - the displays are stacked bmw head up displays - different models - some small some large https://fgr.nz/documents/concept-design-teleoperation-john-deere-909-feller-buncher/ (trailer like a drone trailer to remotely operate from screens and controls etc) HUD eye tracking etc. Artificial intelligence, expert system is what you might create - a help system for a new excavator operator so they can get up to a better operating speed quicker when final finishing/ grading work.