Hardware overview¶

This section provides an overview of the hardware requirements for the AC system. AC can run with a simple laptop () and connected sensor or as a wearable system (). We include instructions for both layouts. The major XR hardware components for AC are:

• A : the computing unit
• B : the woodworking electric powertool
• C : a tool mount
• D : a digitized toolhead
• E : an interface
• F : a monocular camera
• *: Additionally you will also require to print stickers to tag the beams.

In the current state of our prototype, we have opted not to use off-the-shelf or commercial XR devices. Several factors influenced this decision. We wanted to maintain complete control over our XR prototype and make it fully open-srouce and free.

To reduce manufacturing tolerances and achieve higher precision, we limited the number of tracking devices to a single sensor—a simple monocular camera used by AC. Monocular cameras are rich in information, lightweight, and economically accessible, making them an attractive choice for open-source, distributed systems like AC. Additionally, we aimed to avoid the proprietary barriers often found in low-level XR software components (e.g., the inability to replace a particular SLAM of a device) during development. As a result, we assembled a minimal yet highly customized demonstrator specifically adapted for woodworking, giving us greater freedom in refining and improving our XR setup.