Breaking down the Barriers between the Digital and the Real: Mixed Reality applied to battery manufacturing R&D and Training

In a scenario in which the manufacturing of high-performance, safe batteries on an unprecedented large scale is crucial for the energy transition and fight against climate change, research laboratories and cell production industries are facing challenges due to the lack of efficient data management and training tools. In this context, the use of intelligent devices plays an important role on the path towards the optimization of the manufacturing process and the enhancement of the battery performance while reducing production costs. In this Concept, we show how Mixed Reality technology can be used for data collection and training in real-time in battery research laboratories and pilot lines. We introduce a Mixed Reality application run on Microsoft HoloLens 2 glasses, provide a deep analysis on its ergonomic and usability aspects, and we describe how we solved the problems found during its development. Thanks to this application, users can collect data while keeping their hands free and receive advice in real time to design and build batteries with tailored properties. This optimizes data management in complex and dangerous environments, like the ones found in battery research laboratories or pilot lines. Now, thanks to our Mixed Reality application, users can collect data in the place of work, save this data automatically on a server and exploit it to receive advice and feedback to support their decision-making and learning of the manufacturing process.