Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

GRAAL—modeling, prototyping and assessing a gamified responsible augmented assembly line system

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Human errors are prevalent in manual assembly line statistics, but humans are still a necessary and numerous working force for assembly tasks. Since faster and shorter production cycles lead to higher mental efforts, an alternative to decrease the cognitive load and errors of manual assembly lines is using augmented reality (AR). AR increases system interaction and assists operators in the step-by-step of any tasks performed. Its use allows granular production data, enabling an increase in quality control and timely detection of assembly problems. However, AR alone is not enough to avoid demotivation and lack of engagement in the task, which is repetitive. Gamification can become an auxiliary resource to increase operators’ motivation and engagement. This paper presents a system model to integrate AR and gamification for a manual assembly line of printed circuit boards (PCBs) called GRAAL, used to develop an actual system for PCB assembly, which can guide operators using AR but also tracks down their efficiency and efficacy which is then used for gamifying their performance. A prototype system was implemented and assessed by 34 specialist respondents. TAM 3 (Technology Acceptance Model 3) Questionnaire was used to assess the system, which allowed us to find that GRAAL was well accepted (all scores were above the center of a Likert scale from 1 to 7 values), suggesting that GRAAL may be useful as an auxiliary resource to manual assembly lines. We conclude that modeling a system that merges AR and gamification is feasible but a non-trivial task in industry. The system’s features are dependent on conditioning factors such as Application Environment, Application Context, Application Audience, AR hardware, and gamification elements.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Becker C, Scholl A (2006) A survey on problems and methods in generalized assembly line balancing. Eur J Oper Res 168:694–715

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Hold P, Ranz F, Sihn W, Hummel V (2016) Planning operator support in cyber-physical assembly systems. IFAC-PapersOnLine 49:60–65

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Le Y, Qiang S, Liangfa S, (2012) A novel method of analyzing quality defects due to human errors in engine assembly line. In: Proceedings of international conference on information management innovation management and industrial engineering, vol 3, pp 154–157

  4. Mukhopadhyay A et al (2019) PCB inspection in the context of smart manufacturing. In: Research into design for a connected world: proceedings of ICoRD 2019, vol 1, pp 655–663

  5. Värno K, Mahmood K, Otto, T, Kuts V (2019) Development of a smart workstation by using AR technology. In: Proceedings of DAAAM 30

  6. Khuong BM et al (2014) The effectiveness of an AR-based context-aware assembly support system in object assembly. In: Proceedings of IEEE virtual reality (VR), pp 57–62

  7. Azuma RT (1997) A survey of augmented reality. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments 6:355–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dias DA, Zorzal ER (2013) Development of a serious game with augmented reality to support environmental education (in Portuguese). In: Proceedings of XII Simpósio Brasileiro de games e entretenimento digital, SBGames, São Paulo

  9. Tori R, Hounsell M (2018) Introduction to virtual and augmented reality (in Portuguese) (SBC)

  10. Milgram P, Takemura H, Utsumi A, Kishino F (1995) Augmented reality: a class of displays on the reality-virtuality continuum. Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies 2351:282–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Marques B et al (2019) Investigating different augmented reality approaches in circuit assembly: a user study. In: Proceedings of Eurographics (Short Papers) pp 45–48

  12. Cardoso LF, Mariano FCMQ, Zorzal ER (2019) A survey of industrial augmented reality. Comput & Ind Eng 139:2–12

  13. Schuldt J, Friedemann S (2017) The challenges of gamification in the age of Industry 4.0: focusing on man in future machine-driven working environments. In: Proceedings of IEEE global engineering education conference (EDUCON), pp 1622–1630

  14. Deterding S, Sicart M, Nacke L, O’Hara K, Dixon D (2011) Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts. In: Proceedings of CHI ’11 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems pp 2425-2428. https://doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979575

  15. Hamari J, Koivisto J, Sarsa H (2014) Does gamification work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In: Proceedings of 47th Hawaii international conference on system sciences vol 140, pp 3025–3034

  16. Flatla DR, Gutwin C, Nacke LE, Bateman S, Mandryk RL (2011) Calibration games: making calibration tasks enjoyable by adding motivating game elements. In: Proceedings of the 24th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology, pp 403–412

  17. Warmelink H, Koivisto J, Mayer I, Hamari J, Vesa M (2018) Gamification of the work floor: a literature review of gamifying production and logistics operations. Proceedings of the 51st annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences (HICSS)

  18. Wang X, Ong SK, Nee AY (2016) A comprehensive survey of augmented reality assembly research. Adv Manuf 4:1–22

  19. Egger J, Masood T (2019) Augmented reality in support of intelligent manufacturing: a systematic literature review. Computers & Industrial Engineering, pp 1–34

  20. NASA (2021) NASA task load index (TLX) national aeronautics and space administration. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20000021488.pdf

  21. Hart SG, Staveland LE (1988) Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): results of empirical and theoretical research. Adv Psychol 52:139–183

  22. Agati SS, Bauer RD, Hounsell MdS, Paterno AS (2020) Augmented reality for manual assembly in Industry 4.0: gathering guidelines. In: Proceedings of 22nd symposium on virtual and augmented reality (SVR) pp 179–188

  23. Warmelink H, Koivisto J, Mayer I, Vesa M, Hamari J (2020) Gamification of production and logistics operations: status quo and future directions. J Bus Res 106:331–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen J (2007) Flow in games (and everything else). Commun ACM 50:31–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sweetser P, Wyeth P (2005) GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games. Entertain Comput (CIE) 3:3–3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Korn O, Muschick P, Schmidt A (2017) Gamification of production? A study on the acceptance of gamified work processes in the automotive industry Advances in Affective and Pleasurable Design. Adv Intell Syst Comput 483:433–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Korn O, Funk M, Schmidt A (2015) Towards a gamification of industrial production: a comparative study in sheltered work environments. In: Proceedings of the 7th ACM SIGCHI symposium on engineering interactive computing systems, pp 84–93

  28. Grund J et al (2020) A gamified and adaptive learning system for neurodivergent workers in electronic assembling tasks. In: Proceedings of the conference on mensch und computer, pp 491–494

  29. Yang Z et al (2019) Influences of augmented reality assistance on performance and cognitive loads in different stages of assembly task. Front Psychol 10:1703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Bauer RD, Agati SS, Hounsell MdS, da Silva TA (2020) Manual PCB assembly using augmented reality: towards total quality. Proceedings of 22nd symposium on virtual and augmented reality (SVR) pp 189–198

  31. Funk M, Kosch T, Kettne R, Korn O, Schmidt A (2016) motionEAP: an overview of 4 years of combining industrial assembly with augmented reality for Industry 4.0. In: Proceedings of the 16th international conference on knowledge technologies and data-driven business, pp 4

  32. Klock ACT, Gasparini I, Pimenta MS, Hamari J (2020) Tailored gamification: a review of literature. Int J Hum Comput Stud 144:102495. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071581920300975

  33. Diniz RL (2018) Avaliação da Demanda Física e Mental no Trabalho do Cirurgião em Procedimentos Eletivos (in Portuguese). Ph.D. thesis, Production Engineering Doctorate Program of Santa Catarina State University

  34. Benin FdMC, Pessa SLR (2019) NASA TLX Method: a systematic review of national scientific research production in the period from 2005 to 2017 (in Portuguese). In: Proceedings of the IX engineering congress of production

  35. Conejo GG, Gasparini I, Hounsell MdS (2019) Detailing motivation in a gamification process. In: Proceedings of IEEE 19th international conference on advanced learning technologies (ICALT), vol 2161, pp 89–91

  36. Conejo GG, Gasparini I, Hounsell MdS (2019) 5W2H+ M: a broad gamification design process but focused on motivation. RENOTE 17:112–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. McGinn J, Kotamraju N (2008) Data-driven persona development. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems, pp 1521–1524

  38. Nunes F, Silva PA, Abrantes F (2010) Human-computer interaction and the older adult: an example using user research and personas. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on pervasive technologies related to assistive environments, pp 1–8

  39. Lee J et al (2016) A case study in an automotive assembly line: exploring the design framework for manufacturing gamification. In: Advances in ergonomics of manufacturing: managing the enterprise of the future: proceedings of the AHFE 2016 international conference on human aspects of advanced manufacturing, July 27-31, 2016, Walt Disney World®, Florida, USA pp 305–317

  40. Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and new directions. Contemp Educ Psychol 25:54–67

  41. Bartle R (1996) Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research 1:19

    Google Scholar 

  42. Venkatesh V, Bala H (2008) Technology acceptance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decis Sci 39:273–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Marangunić N, Granić A (2015) Technology acceptance model: a literature review from 1986 to 2013. Univers Access Inf Soc 14:81–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Parreira P, Proença S, Sousa LB, Mónico L (2018) Technology acceptance model (TAM): precursor models and evolutionary models (in Portuguese). In: Entrepreneurial skills in polytechnic higher education: reasons, influences, support services and education, pp 143

  45. Monterrat B, Lavoué É, George S (2014) Motivation for learning: adaptive gamification for web-based learning environments. In: 6th International conference on computer supported education (CSEDU 2014), pp 117–125

Download references

Funding

This study was partially financed by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES - Brasil) - Finance Code 001 for the doctorate grant; the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq - Brasil), for the DT2 productivity grant, number 306613/2022-0; Institutional Initiation Scholarship Program in Technological Development and Innovation (PIBITI - Brasil); and Santa Catarina State Research Support Foundation (FAPESC - Brasil) for partial funding from the laboratories LARVA-T.O. 2023TR284.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Salvador S. Agati, Marcelo da S. Hounsell, and Aleksander S. Paterno contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering Department, Santa Catarina State University, R. Paulo Malschitzki, 200, Joinville, 89219-710, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Salvador S. Agati, Marcelo da S. Hounsell & Aleksander S. Paterno

Authors
  1. Salvador S. Agati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marcelo da S. Hounsell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aleksander S. Paterno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Each author has substantially contributed to conducting the underlying research and drafting of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Salvador S. Agati.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were under the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Agati, S.S., Hounsell, M.d.S. & Paterno, A.S. GRAAL—modeling, prototyping and assessing a gamified responsible augmented assembly line system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 132, 2735–2751 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13460-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13460-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation