Case description
Students from faculties of logistics, mechanical engineering, and medicine from University in Maribor, in cooperation with Špica International d.o.o., have been cooperating in a project Analysis of the effects of smart glasses on vision and productivity: a commissioner case study. The use of smart glasses technology enables work by 'Pick by vision concept', which enables hands-free picking. The glasses used in the project were Vuzix M300, made by an American company - Vuzix. Before the students could start testing, they had to enable optimal conditions for work with smart glasses in an improvised warehouse. After series of tests, they concluded, that the most important factor, that impacts the performance of the smart glasses, is the quality of internet connection, which is needed to communicate with cloud-based WMS software - HydraWarehouse. Other encountered difficulties included: worse performance at lower battery levels (below 50%) and ergonomic issues, that they encountered after prolonged use (pain above ears).
Solutions
- The problem of bad internet quality was solved by moving the improvised warehouse to LANPS (Laboratory for advanced production systems) in the Faculty of mechanical engineering Maribor.
- The battery problems were solved by using Power Bank, which charged the smart glasses for the duration of testing.
- The students didn't focus on finding the solution for the ergonomic problem. They found out that Vuzix offers a special headband that tightly secures smart glasses around the head and thus reduces the weight load on the ears.
Results
- Better internet quality in LANPS improved the speed and accuracy of barcode scanning and thus enabled optimal and real working conditions. This allowed the measured results to be used in a study of vision and productivity.
- Continuous charging via Power Bank enabled the smart glasses to always run at peak efficiency.
Comparing the results before and after changing the warehouse location and implementing changes shows a drastic improvement in the new location. This was shown in much faster scan times and an increase in the number of completed picking lists per hour.
