The effect of AR guidance on locating maintenance items: A use case
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Authors
Kennedy, Quinn
Wiltshire, James
Greunke, Clay
Fan, James
McDowell, Perry
Subjects
augmented reality
maintenance
operational readiness
maintenance
operational readiness
Advisors
Date of Issue
2021-07-15
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Efficient maintenance is critical for the U.S. Navy to sustain surface fleet operational readiness, capability, and capacity. Efficient maintenance relies on the ability to quickly locate needed maintenance items. The current process to locate critical maintenance items relies on the written description of a work order, which offers little description and ambiguity of the exact physical location of the maintenance item, creating inefficiencies in repairs, and cost and schedule delays. Augmented Reality (AR) has been shown to improve maintenance efficiency in the private sector; we provide empirical evidence to suggest the U.S. Navy should consider AR adoption for maintenance for certain use cases. We conducted an experiment in which 20 subjects were randomly assigned to locate visible unobstructed objects in two rooms that represented shipboard compartments using either the current maintenance process or with AR guided assistance. Performance was measured by time to locate items, accuracy, and the confidence in having identified the proper item. Results indicated that use of AR guidance led to considerably better performance on all measures, in terms of both statistical significance and practical importance. This research shows evidence that AR can potentially close the capability gap existing within the current process.
Type
Technical Report
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-OR-21-004
Sponsors
Office of Naval Research Code 34
Funding
Format
42 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.