Using Digital Twin Documents to Control a Smart Factory: Simulation Approach with ROS, Gazebo, and Twinbase

Mattila, Juha; Ala-Laurinaho, Riku; Autiosalo, Juuso; Salminen, Pauli; Tammi, Kari

doi:10.3390/machines10040225

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…The control parameters can be shared with and used by other applications that are connected to the same machine. For instance, the cognitive firewall system for Internet of Things proposed in Siegel and Sarma (2019) or the factory control application proposed in Mattila et al (2022) can also utilize the safety zone parameter from DT documents.…”

Section: Generality Of the Twinxr Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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TwinXR: Method for using digital twin descriptions in industrial eXtended reality applications

Autiosalo

Ala-Laurinaho

et al. 2023

Front. Virtual Real.

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Digital twins (DTs) and eXtended Reality (XR) are two core technological enablers for engineering in the Metaverse that can accelerate the human-centric Industry 5.0 transformation. The digital twin technology provides a digital representation of a physical asset with data linkages for inspection, monitoring, and prediction of complex processes or systems, while eXtended reality offers real-and-virtual combined environments for human users to interact with machines. However, the synergies between digital twins and eXtended reality remain understudied. This work addresses this research gap by introducing a novel method “TwinXR” that leverages ontology-based descriptions of Digital twins, i.e., digital twin documents, in industrial eXtended reality applications. To ease the use of the TwinXR method, we publish a Unity package that allows data flow and conversion between eXtended reality applications and digital twin documents on the server. Finally, the work applies the TwinXR method in two industrial eXtended reality applications involving overhead cranes and a robot arm to demonstrate the use and indicate the validity of the method. We conclude that the TwinXR method is a promising way to advance the synergies between digital twins and eXtended reality: For eXtended reality, TwinXR enables efficient and scalable eXtended reality development; For digital twins, TwinXR unlocks and demonstrates the potential of digital twins for data interchange and system interoperation. Future work includes introducing more detailed principles of Semantic Web and Knowledge Graph, as well as developing factory-level TwinXR-compatible applications.

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Section: Generality Of the Twinxr Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on these, the authors introduced a platform "Twinbase" (Autiosalo et al, 2021), the first implementation of a DTW server, for managing and distributing DT documents, which is leveraged in the implementation of this work. Mattila et al (2022) demonstrates the use of DT documents and Twinbase in controlling a Smart Factory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

TwinXR: Method for using digital twin descriptions in industrial eXtended reality applications

Autiosalo

Ala-Laurinaho

et al. 2023

Front. Virtual Real.

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“…Facilitates activities such as monitoring, coordination, and control of industrial systems in production lines. Its main function lies in the reduction of errors and production delivery time [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Industrial Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Twins in the Automotive Industry: The Road toward Physical-Digital Convergence

Piromalis

Kantaros

2022

ASI

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A newly introduced term in the field of simulating an artificial or physical system is that of the “Digital Twin” concept method. It employs a digital representation and modeling method, capable of expanding and improving the life cycle of complex items, systems, and processes. Nowadays, digital twin technology has become a key research field worldwide. In this context, it is applied and utilized in various fields. One such field is the automotive industry, a technological field that has great implications in users’ everyday life. Digital twin technology not only has great contributions from the initial stages of design until the final construction stages of vehicles, but also during its use, drawing useful information from its daily functions and making the driving experience more enjoyable, comfortable, and safe. It is worth noting that the vehicles that can greatly benefit from the use of digital twins are electric vehicles, which has tended to acquire greater shares in the last decade.

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“…The bridge implements the operation of write and read by subscribing the ROS topics, respectively, write concerning the position of the components in the Gazebo to the OPC UA server, read concerning the direction and speed of the components from the OPC UA. The bridge between ROS and OPC UA enables multi-machine collaborative communication [56].…”

Section: Machine Communication Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended Reality Application Framework for a Digital-Twin-Based Smart Crane

Yang

Autiosalo

et al. 2022

Applied Sciences

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Industry 4.0 is moving forward under technology upgrades, utilizing information technology to improve the intelligence of the industry, whereas Industry 5.0 is value-driven, aiming to focus on essential societal needs, values, and responsibility. The manufacturing industry is currently moving towards the integration of productivity enhancements and sustainable human employment. Such a transformation has deeply changed the human–machine interaction (HMI), among which digital twin (DT) and extended reality (XR) are two cutting-edge technologies. A manufacturing DT offers an opportunity to simulate, monitor, and optimize the machine. In the meantime, XR empowers HMI in the industrial field. This paper presents an XR application framework for DT-based services within a manufacturing context. This work aims to develop a technological framework to improve the efficiency of the XR application development and the usability of the XR-based HMI systems. We first introduce four layers of the framework, including the perception layer with the physical machine and its ROS-based simulation model, the machine communication layer, the network layer containing three kinds of communication middleware, and the Unity-based service layer creating XR-based digital applications. Subsequently, we conduct the responsiveness test for the framework and describe several XR industrial applications for a DT-based smart crane. Finally, we highlight the research challenges and potential issues that should be further addressed by analyzing the performance of the whole framework.

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Using Digital Twin Documents to Control a Smart Factory: Simulation Approach with ROS, Gazebo, and Twinbase

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

TwinXR: Method for using digital twin descriptions in industrial eXtended reality applications

TwinXR: Method for using digital twin descriptions in industrial eXtended reality applications

Digital Twins in the Automotive Industry: The Road toward Physical-Digital Convergence

Extended Reality Application Framework for a Digital-Twin-Based Smart Crane

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