Augmented reality for NDT imaging

• Main Author: Seah, Kenny Wei Feng
• Other Authors: Fan Zheng, David
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Aeronautical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141127
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Maintenance checks are frequently carried out in various industries to ensure the integrity of materials and structures. Non-Destructive Testing is commonly used to check for the presence of any internal defects such as cracks as it does not damage the test specimen or require any piece of the specimen to be removed from the original structure. However, the test results are 2-Dimensional, and visualisations and/or calculations are required to obtain the actual defect location. Given the tedium of visualising results during Non-Destructive Testing, this project was carried out to develop an application to provide a better illustration and representation of the Non-Destructive Test results through an Augmented Reality overlay, which can be utilised across various industries. The centrepiece of this project is an experimental setup developed to carry out a Non-Destructive Testing on a specimen and display the test result as an Augmented Reality overlay on the depicted area on the specimen. This is done by capturing screenshots of the Non-Destructive Test results at regular intervals, transferring the captured screenshots to the Augmented Reality glasses, and subsequently, projecting the image as an Augmented Reality overlay. It was noted over the course of the project that there are several key sources of error that could severely affect the performance of the setup. These includes possible poor lighting conditions as well as failure to account for the latency involved in the image transfer process. As such, precautions should be taken to minimise the possible sources of error to improve the performance of the setup. Lastly, this report also highlights potential areas for improvement, such as the possibility of going wireless, that can be carried out in the future with additional resources and/or with the advancement of technology.