VTT Develops AR Tool for Astronauts

An international project led by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. has developed a new augmented reality (AR) tool for the European Space Agency.

The tool aims to help astronauts perform maintenance tasks and real-time equipment monitoring in space. The two-year engineering data in cross platform AR (EdcAR) project developed a new AR system intended to improve the performance of manual tasks in the frame of the space industry. The system is expected to reduce mistakes, speed up the tasks and improve the clarity of the instruction by the use of AR technology, with a major benefit being the real-time location of the point requiring maintenance. The information is transmitted to the astronauts' AR glasses timely and explicitly by using text, graphics, video and sound. The system displays detailed visual instructions on the astronauts' AR glasses, guiding them step by step to perform the necessary procedures in the right order.

The new system also makes the invisible visible by enabling the visualization of telemetry data from equipment and other systems on board the space station such as fault diagnostics, the latest maintenance data, life cycle, radiation, pressure or temperature — both in space and on the ground.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a research and technology company that provides services for domestic and international customers.