Digital Twins Supporting Efficient Digital Industrial Transformation

Abstract

Industry 4.0 applications help digital industrial transformation to be achieved through smart, data-driven solutions that improve production efficiency, product consistency, preventive maintenance, and the logistics of industrial applications and related supply chains. To enable and accelerate digital industrial transformation, it is vital to support cost-efficient Industry 4.0 application development. However, the development of such Industry 4.0 applications is currently expensive due to the limitations of existing IoT platforms in representing complex industrial machines, the support of only production line-based application testing, and the lack of cost models for application cost/benefit analysis. In this paper, we propose the use of Cyber Twins (CTs), an extension of Digital Twins, to support cost-efficient Industry 4.0 application development. CTs provide semantic descriptions of the machines they represent and incorporate machine simulators that enable application testing without any production line risk and cost. This paper focuses on CT-based Industry 4.0 application development and the related cost models. Via a case study of a CT-based Industry 4.0 application from the dairy industry, the paper shows that CT-based Industry 4.0 applications can be developed with approximately 60% of the cost of IoT platform-based application development.

Digital Twin for a Multifunctional Technology of Flexible Assembly on a Mechatronics Line with Integrated Robotic Systems and Mobile Visual Sensor—Challenges towards Industry 5.0

“…In a digital twin, there are several solutions for digital transformations in manufacturing technologies [ 19 ]: Additive manufacturing: Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a process used to create a physical or 3D object by layering materials one by one based on a digital model [ 20 ]; Autodesk software: Advanced manufacturing software allows you to make anything you want; Augmented reality: Augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality involve immersive technologies to revolutionize data interaction and project collaboration between team members and how people interact with their data; Digital transformation: Digital transformation means convergence for connecting organizations using data, while bridging the gap to bring together different disciplines, such as computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), or computer aided engineering (CAE), collaboration by accessing data via the cloud, for connecting your entire manufacturing ecosystem and automation for removing the delays, and using generative design and robotics to streamline multiple processes and accelerate product development; Generative design: Generative design quickly generates high-performing design alternatives and multiple solutions to solve the needs; Robotics: Robot programming software for manufacturing has a great impact on the collaboration between humans and robots [ 21 , 22 ]; Simulation: Simulation software allows predicting, validating, and optimizing products using accurate analysis. …”

Analyzing the Implementation of Digital Twins in the Agri-Food Supply Chain

“…The scientific community has described DTs in a variety of ways in the literature. In some circumstances, it has become more difficult to distinguish DTs from digital models and digital shadows [9][10][11][12][13][14]. To precisely define a digital model, there must be no automated data exchange between the physical and virtual twins.…”

“…As a result, DTs have been presented in a variety of ways in the articles. In certain cases, distinguishing DTs from digital models and digital shadows has become more challenging [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Holistic Approach to the Ecological Evaluation of Digitalization Systems in the Production Environment

“…A significant part of them handles the advantages that digitalization brings with it to increase resource efficiency, relates to the use of specific technologies and describes the possible saving potential [13][14][15][16][17]. A holistic assessment about a comparison of the saving possibilities with the resources to be used only takes place in exceptional cases [18]. Thiede 2018 and Schehbeck et al 2017 describe methods to holistically assess environmental impact of digitalization technologies [19,20].…”