Aerial Lift Feature
Aerial Lift Feature
Revolutionizing Equipment Selection
Examples of How Using Augmented Reality Made a Big Difference in Equipment Selection
AR technology superimposes 3-D representations of equipment on top of live video of a facility captured by a smartphone or tablet camera.
Provided by Ara Eckel, director of product management – Connected Solutions, JLG
Determining an aerial lift ' s proper size and configuration for indoor applications, as well as helping equipment operators understand and use their machines in these environments, can often be challenging. In some facilities, this is due to limited space, obstructions and overhangs. In other cases, it’ s finding the“ best fit” machine for their operations.
Whatever the situation, augmented reality( AR) technology offers a tool to simplify these decisions by showing what a variety of accurately sized aerial lifts would look like and how they would move through an actual work environment.
It does this by superimposing 3-D representations of its mobile elevating work platforms and telehandlers on top of live video of the facility, captured by a smartphone or tablet camera. For example, AR app users can“ drop” a machine in a specific location in its stowed configuration and perform a simulated lift. This enables them to make accurate decisions about the machine’ s maneuverability and reach in the exact working environment, which would be impossible to do with just the measurements alone.
Real-World Uses
JLG’ s West Coast Strategic Account Manager, Ed Padilla, has been an early adopter of AR technology. He has watched it evolve from a cool piece of
8 l Equipment Guide- October 2024
new technology to a powerful tool that makes a tremendous difference to the industrial facilities he visits.
“ Some of them are replacing ladders with low-level push-around lifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts and other types of lift equipment. But they need a lot of help understanding what’ s best for their work environment,” he explains.
“ Other times, they don’ t have measurements for their ceiling heights. Or, they may not know exactly how high a piece of equipment can reach,” he adds.“ With an AR app, we don’ t need to know that. We can experiment with different sizes and configurations of access machines to determine the best reach and fit for their needs.”
Here are three real-world examples where using an AR app made a big difference for Padilla and his customers:
Soft Drink Distributor A soft drink distributor utilizes a fleet of rigid-frame trucks with refrigeration units mounted over the cab to deliver soft drinks to retail locations. The company’ s service technicians must remove the covers of these refrigeration units to perform periodic maintenance checks on them. Historically, they have used ladders to do this work. However, they had to reach out from the side of the ladder to perform this work, creating a potentially unsafe situation for workers.
Using an AR app, Padilla was able to show that a scissor lift equipped with an extension would enable a service technician to lift the work platform to a height just above the roof of the cab and then deploy the extension to reach the refrigeration units. This would better position them to do their work more easily and safely.
Deck Manufacturer
A manufacturer of composite deck materials experienced a big increase in business during the last two years because many homeowners decided to add or repair decks to their homes during the pandemic.
To meet this demand, it installed additional casting and cutting equipment and conveyors within its existing facility. This caused the production area to become more crowded, making it harder to inspect and repair elevated conveyors and other machinery.
In some locations, motors, belts, piping and conveyors occupied the space where maintenance workers were formerly able to use a scissor lift. Other areas were only accessible