Augmented reality could help solve Ford-class carrier cost woes.

• Author: Versprille, Allyson

When working on complex projects such as building aircraft carriers, shipyard workers have to endure a painstaking process over the course of several years, adhering to stringent military requirements on quality, safety and accuracy.

Executives at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, the Huntington Ingalls division that is constructing the Navy's next-generation Ford-class supercarriers, said new technology employing digital design and construction could help reduce labor hours and lower acquisition costs for the program, which has endured criticism by lawmakers for budget overruns and delays.

In June, Rear Adm. Tom Moore, program executive officer for aircraft carriers, told reporters that the Ford-class program could save $ 1 billion by decreasing the man hours needed to construct CVN-79, the USS John F. Kennedy, by 18 percent compared to CVN-78, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Augmented reality (AR) technology--which takes a real-world environment and supplements it with computer-generated sensory data such as graphics--could help achieve that goal, according to executives at the shipbuilding company. The technology originated from designing the Ford-class carrier with 3D modeling, said Patrick Ryan, the company's engineering manager. The shipbuilder wanted to use the electronic and digital information it had generated, place it into the hands of its workers, and "turn it from more than just a design tool ... into a construction tool," he said.

Using augmented reality in construction could result in significant time and cost savings because it makes the shipbuilder's work simpler and faster, he noted. "Materials are going to cost what materials cost," Ryan said. "But can I make the shipbuilder more efficient by giving him a better set of instructions?"

Traditionally, an engineer will communicate a ship's design to a skilled craftsman or worker--a shipfitter, a painter, a pipefitter, an inspector--using 2D drawings. However, reading a drawing can occupy a lot of time and energy, he noted. By improving the way designs are communicated much of that excess time can be eliminated.

To employ augmented reality, a user takes a mobile device such as a tablet and points it at a designated part of the ship that he is working on. When looking through the device, the operator will see a real-time camera view of the space with a digital overlay on top of it.

For example, the technology could help a user place studs on a bulkhead or steel panel in a ship...