Airbus has introduced innovative 'Smartglasses' for shop floor staff at its Clément Ader A330 final assembly line (FAL) in Toulouse. The device allows operators to more accurately and more quickly mark the position of A330 seats and furnishings to be installed in the cabin. The tool incorporates a camera to both scan the barcode enabling the definition items to be loaded and to view the marking zone. Although its offset screen built into the headset is approximately one square centimetre in size, it actually gives the impression to the wearer that he or she is reading a tablet at arm's length.

Already tested on five aircraft, the Smartglasses have reduced in the time spent on the marking operation by a factor of six, while eliminating positional errors. Once the mark has been traced, the system verifies its location before validating the operation. Interactivity with the tool is provided by voice command. Previously, the process was complex because operators had to decipher intricate drawings, convert measurements from inches to metres, prepare marking templates etc.

The project was launched in January 2015 and only one month later the first prototype was delivered. After several improved versions, the technology is now demonstrably mature enough to be implemented in actual A330 cabin furnishing operations. The other Airbus FALs will follow in the near future in adopting this technology.