Managing an industrial environment having machinery operated by remote workers and physically present workers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025244821-A1
Application number	US-202418427878-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 31, 2024
Priority date	Jan 31, 2024
Publication date	Jul 31, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

Computer-implemented methods for managing an industrial environment having machinery operated by remote workers and physically present workers are provided. Aspects include identifying a first area of the industrial environment suitable for a presence of physically present workers and identifying a second area of the industrial environment that is not suitable for the presence of physically present workers. Aspects also include configuring machinery disposed in the second area of the industrial environment to be operated by remote workers and displaying, via an augmented reality display to the physically present workers, avatars of the remote workers operating machinery disposed in the second area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for managing an industrial environment having machinery operated by remote workers and physically present workers, the method comprising:
identifying a first area of the industrial environment suitable for a presence of physically present workers; identifying a second area of the industrial environment that is not suitable for the presence of physically present workers; configuring machinery disposed in the second area of the industrial environment to be operated by remote workers; and displaying, via an augmented reality display to the physically present workers, avatars of the remote workers operating machinery disposed in the second area.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, via the augmented reality display to the physically present workers, a projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area is determined based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery include eye movement of the remote worker, gestures made by the remote worker, and biometric data of the remote worker.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the augmented reality display is disposed on a head mounted display device worn by the physically present workers.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the industrial environment includes a plurality of sensors distributed across the industrial environment and wherein the identification of the first area and the second are determined based on data obtained from the plurality of sensors.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of sensors include motion sensors, temperate sensors, and gas detectors.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the avatars of the remote workers operating machinery are configured to emulate movements of the remote workers operating machinery.

9 . A computing system having a memory having computer readable instructions and one or more processors for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
identifying a first area of an industrial environment suitable for a presence of physically present workers; identifying a second area of the industrial environment that is not suitable for the presence of physically present workers; configuring machinery disposed in the second area of the industrial environment to be operated by remote workers; and displaying, via an augmented reality display to the physically present workers, avatars of the remote workers operating machinery disposed in the second area.

10 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise displaying, via the augmented reality display to the physically present workers, a projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area.

11 . The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area is determined based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery.

12 . The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery include eye movement of the remote worker, gestures made by the remote worker, and biometric data of the remote worker.

13 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the augmented reality display is disposed on a head mounted display device worn by the physically present workers.

14 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the industrial environment includes a plurality of sensors distributed across the industrial environment and wherein the identification of the first area and the second are determined based on data obtained from the plurality of sensors.

15 . The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of sensors include motion sensors, temperate sensors, and gas detectors.

16 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the avatars of the remote workers operating machinery are configured to emulate movements of the remote workers operating machinery.

17 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
identifying a first area of an industrial environment suitable for a presence of physically present workers; identifying a second area of the industrial environment that is not suitable for the presence of physically present workers; configuring machinery disposed in the second area of the industrial environment to be operated by remote workers; and displaying, via an augmented reality display to the physically present workers, avatars of the remote workers operating machinery disposed in the second area.

18 . The computing program product of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise displaying, via the augmented reality display to the physically present workers, a projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area.

19 . The computing program product of claim 18 , wherein the projected movement path of the machinery disposed in the second area is determined based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery.

20 . The computing program product of claim 19 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the remote worker operating the machinery include eye movement of the remote worker, gestures made by the remote worker, and biometric data of the remote worker.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Thomas Binoy
• Rakshit Sarbajit K
• Kairali Sudheesh S

Classifications

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• G06F3/011 Primary

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title