To demonstrate Schneider Electric's main solutions and approaches to energy efficiency projects, the Ariseum team has developed a mobile app based on the Arkit and ArCore technologies.

Customer's background

Schneider Electric is a global manufacturer of equipment for energy subcomplexes of industrial enterprises, civil and residential construction facilities, and data centers.

Task

To develop a tool that will effectively help to present company's products and solutions using the example of a virtual twin cluster that consists of urban and industrial parts. As a result, potential partners will be able to estimate the amount of money saved.

The app shall have several modes: Group demonstration in which the content viewing is controlled by the manager from their device, while the rest of the group acts as an observer, without the possibility of interactive communication with AR. The number of simultaneous logged in users is unlimited.

The second mode is personal use, in which the user completely controls the interactive content.

Schneider Electric's capabilities shall be demonstrated on groups of 3D models displaying urban and industrial infrastructures inside and outside.

The app shall be implemented in English.

Solution

To recreate the urban and industrial infrastructure cluster, the Ariseum's modelers used one of the existing factories and some elements of the urban infrastructure as a reference. In total, 17 objects have been implemented on the site. They include a hypermarket, plant buildings, a ventilation chamber, a compressor room, a boiler room, and other industrial premises. A windmill, an electric gas station, solar panels, power lines, and a Schneider Electric office building were also added.

In order to make the plant's territory look like a real place, virtual employees of Schneider Electric have been developed to perform energy audits in different parts of the site, such as: Inspecting lighting control cabinets and main lamps to identify opportunities for cost minimization. Our team revived the space around; it animated the windmill, launched cars and milk tankers, which started driving on the roads, and inserted virtual people who walk and head to the store.

The mobile app is developed on the basis of the ARKit and ArCore technology. This technology is innovative and does not require a marker image, which can be dented, distorted, and is beyond arm's reach. It was important for us that each user of this system would not feel any discomfort and could always present Schneider Electric services at the highest level.

We have developed two app modes.

In the group demonstration mode, the Company's manager acts as an administrator and fully manages the presentation. The other guests just look at the model.

The personal use mode is provided for potential partners who would like to learn more about the company's services after the presentation on their own. In this mode, the user can access the full functionality of the app.

How it works

Before the presentation, a representative of Schneider Electric installs a WiFi hotspot, launches the app on all devices, and puts them in the group demonstration mode. Tablets are distributed to all participants and then the administrator scans the surface where the platform will be located, such as a table.

After successful scanning, buildings of urban and industrial infrastructure will appear in AR. The tablet screen shows options for optimizing energy consumption like lighting, industrial cooling, steam-and-gas installation, and so on. After the user has selected the appropriate department, an algorithm of actions for optimizing energy consumption is launched on the stage followed by a Schneider Electric car arriving, employees in uniform getting off of it, going to the plant and conducting appropriate activities.

Virtual specialists can perform a total of 12 actions for assessing energy efficiency. For example, they can check how the cooling, ventilation, and air conditioning systems work, and how reliable the power supply is. Assistants will analyze the operation of the boiler house, CIP stations and find errors in invoices and supply contracts, and give advice on optimizing the load schedule.

Equipment

Mobile devices based on the operating systems iOS 11.3 or higher, and Android 7.0 or higher, for devices that support the ARCore and ARKit technology.

To provide group viewing, you need to set a WiFi hotspot to which all the devices involved in the presentation shall be connected.

Result

The mobile app developed in Ariseum helps Schneider Electric managers demonstrate the advantages of implementing technologies and programs for energy optimization, consumption at production sites and in the urban environment. The visualization, as well as informative and innovative approach to displaying the process increased the interest of potential partners. The app is used almost every time when negotiating at the highest level, which once again proves the indispensability of the AR technology for demonstrating complex processes.