"Wearable technology" brings a new view of data collection to the shop floor.
"Google Glass is a combination computer and display, camera, touchpad, microphone, email, and Internet connection, all consolidated into an eyeglass frame — with the aim of creating a "ubiquitous computer" that users can take (i.e., wear) anywhere, giving them all the information and functionality available in a tablet or smartphone, in a hands-free and accessible form.
If you wonder how that combination finds a role in machining operations, think of MTConnect, the manufacturing technology industry-standard for exchanging data between shop floor equipment and software applications. Its use for machine monitoring and data analysis has been growing steadily since 2008."
This according to a recent article by Robert Brooks on the American Machinist web site.
"The current advancement is being developed at Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO), where the implications of Google Glass are coming into view. The Plymouth, Ind., manufacturer of open gearing and precision-machined parts for heavy-duty industries including mining, off-highway vehicles, marine, and aviation, has devised a package it calls MTConnect + Google Glass, deploying the wearable application to monitor machining operations.
ITAMCO has released MTConnect + Google Glass, as a free Glassware application.
By using Google Glass together with MTConnect, ITAMCO operators will have a view into manufacturing processes that so far has been “unattainable,” according to the shop. The users will be freed from laptops and hand-held devices, able to traverse the shop floor to collect and report machine data supplied by MTConnect, and to access the Web for more information.”
Read the entire article at: http://americanmachinist.com/enterprise-software/shop-projects-better-machine-vision-mtconnect-google-glass
Joe Feeley is editor in chief for Control Design and Industrial Networking. Email him at [email protected] or check out his Google+ profile.
