PRESS RELEASE 

Release date: 30^th June 2016 

Manufacturer uses Augmented Reality to protect IP

A Midlands design engineering business has introduced a brand new way for manufacturers to protect their intellectual property (IP), by harnessing augmented reality. 

MarchantCain has developed its own application, which makes it possible to share Computer Aided Design (CAD) models in real size, and in 3-D, but without giving away valuable IP. The company’s innovative new method utilises augmented reality to bounce a design file off a target, in order to generate a real life visualisation of a product, which is relative to the size of the part. The design can then be manipulated and viewed in detail. And to keep the file secure, the target can be locked down to an individual computer IP address to trigger it to shut down when accessed by a different device. 

The company’s Managing Director, Rob Marchant, says that this will solve many of the protection issues associated with the way CAD files are currently shared through the supply chain. 

“The problem with sharing a CAD file is that, although they can deliver detail and allow designs to be manipulated, they are also very easy to copy, and can leak IP. Our method converts the CAD model into a visualisation that can be connected to an individual computer IP address. It can still be spun around, enlarged and manipulated like a CAD file, but because it is generated by augmented reality, it does not carry any of the IP that would come across in a normal CAD file.” 

The new approach to sharing design drawings in manufacturing is simple to use. The target is an image or logo, which can connect with the file as a printed PDF, on a computer screen, or through a mobile device.  Furthermore, the visualisation is compressed, to ensure that it uses less bandwidth than electronically sending a CAD file to a customer. Once sent together with the target, a design can be brought to life. 

Not only will the invention help to protect IP in manufacturing – a recent report from Kapersky found that 20% of manufacturing businesses globally suffered a loss of IP last year – but it will also bring different manufacturing departments together. 

“A CAD file can only really be shared with somebody who already has CAD knowledge and can understand how to interpret it. With our approach, you don’t need any technical knowledge to view a file. This means that purchasing and quality teams as well as design and engineering teams, can gain a good picture of a design, and understand how a product looks in order to price it accurately. This should bridge the divide that currently exists in manufacturing businesses between engineers and people in other business functions,” Rob Marchant concluded.

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Pictured: MarchantCainVR – An example of MarchantCain’s innovation in practice.

MarchantCainVR2 – Rob Marchant demonstrates the innovation at a Santander manufacturing event.

About MarchantCain

MarchantCain is a specialist design and development company based in Coventry, with facilities for prototype and low volume manufacturing. The company thrives on providing innovative solutions for a range of automotive challenges, specialising in aerodynamics, door and window mechatronics including glass technology, and choreography.

For more information, contact Denise Taylor at Bridge on 02476520025, or email denise@bridgepr.co.uk.