Today the industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers and an aging workforce, which will eventually lead to a loss of knowledge. But augmented reality technology can connect field workers with experts who are able to provide remote guidance in real time. The subsequent advantage is that the information obtained by AR devices can be used as accumulated successful experience in the future, which facilitates decision-making in specific business processes of the company. With AR, employees gain experience and skills much faster. This paper shows the application of augmented reality technology in the maintenance of electromechanical equipment. The main functions of the augmented reality system for servicing electrical equipment are presented, the solution to the problem of integrating an augmented reality software application with existing automation systems is shown, and the methods of interaction of the developed software module with third-party modules, for example, various analytical modules, etc. are described.

This paper presents a numerical simulation of powder sintering. The numerical model presented in this paper uses the discrete element method, which suggests that the material can be modeled by a large set of discrete elements (particles) of a spherical shape that interact with each other. A methodology has been developed to determine the DEM parameters of bulk materials based on machine vision and a neural network algorithm. The approach is suitable for obtaining the exact values of the DEM parameters of the investigated bulk material by comparing the visual images of the material’s behavior at the experimental stand in reality and in the model. Simulation of sintering requires an introduction of cohesive interaction between particles representing interparticle sintering forces. Numerical sintering studies were supplemented with experimental studies that provided data for calibration and model validation. The experimental results have shown a significant capability of the designed numerical model in modeling sintering processes. Evolution of microstructure and density during sintering have been studied under the laboratory conditions.

Digital technology is being introduced into all areas of human activity. However, there are a number of challenges in implementing these technologies. These include the delayed return on investment, the lack of visibility for decision-makers and, most importantly, the lack of human capacity to develop and implement digital technologies. Therefore, creating a digital training simulator for the industry is an actual task. This paper focuses on the first step in creating a digital training simulator for the industry: developing a dynamic process model. The process chosen is flotation, as it is one of the most common mineral processing methods. The simulation was performed in AVEVA Dynamic Simulation software. The model is based on a determination of reaction rate constants, for which, experiments were conducted on a laboratory pneumomechanical flotation machine with a bottom drive. The resulting model was scaled up to industrial size and its dynamic properties were investigated. In addition, the basic scheme of a computer simulator was considered, and the testing of the communication channels of a dynamic model with systems, equipment and software for digitalizing was conducted. The developed model showed acceptable results for its intended purpose, namely, an exact match to the technological process in terms of time. This helps to account for inertia and a fast response on all tested communication channels, as well as being acceptable for the real-time simulation speed of the solver.