Digital assembly technology based on augmented reality and digital twins: a review

Abstract

Product assembly simulation is considered as one of the key technologies in the process of complex product design and manufacturing. Virtual assembly realizes the assembly process design, verification, and optimization of complex products in the virtual environment, which plays an active and effective role in improving the assembly quality and efficiency of complex products. In recent years, augmented reality (AR) and digital twin (DT) technology have brought new opportunities and challenges to the digital assembly of complex products owing to their characteristics of virtual reality fusion and interactive control. This paper expounds the concept and connotation of AR, enumerates a typical AR assembly system structure, analyzes the key technologies and applications of AR in digital assembly, and notes that DT technology is the future development trend of intelligent assembly research. Keywords: Augmented reality, Digital twin, Digital assembly, Virtual simulation, Assembly analysis