Digital twinning as the basis for integration of education and research in a learning factory

Learning factories that focus solely on education may benefit from replicating software systems that drive processes, activities, and workflows in industrial environments. However, such systems (e.g., PLM, ERP or MES) will not meet the requirements if the learning factory intends to be an environment where education and research merge. The flexibility, volatility, ambiguity and incertitudes that characterise the integrated learning-research environment need to be addressed with an approach that replicates industrial reality, but that also accommodates and stimulates the versatility of the learning factory. This paper depicts how the digital twinning approach integrates the physical units of a learning factory and the software systems, but also data acquisition, simulation, and educational/didactic approaches to production/assembly processes and production optimalisation. The approach thus also includes, for example, IoT, planning, monitoring, diagnosis and (quality) control. In addition, the digital twinning approach is used to combine the current state of the learning factory and its activities with designed (to-be) and potential (could-be) representations of the environment in order to stimulate the evolution/improvement of both research and education and their combination. For this purpose, digital twinning is combined with the concept of daydreaming. The paper illustrates the approach based on an ongoing development trajectory of a new learning factory, in setting it up as an environment for education and simultaneously as a testbed for research. It discusses how the development process relies on the digital twinning approach and how, when the learning factory is commissioned, this digital twinning approach will increasingly integrate the use of and activities in the learning factory into the development/evolution cycle of that learning factory.</p

Enhancing development trajectories of synthetic environments

This research presents a framework that supports all stakeholders in the development of a Synthetic Environment. Guidance and support are provided throughout the entire process of development. Multiple disciplines are involved in this process, and the communication and collaboration between them is facilitated in such a way that mutual understanding is enhanced. Moreover, the rationale of decisions made throughout the development can be documented and accessed in such a way that all stakeholders can review and comprehend these decisions in relation to the prior and underlying decision-making processes

Parametric design evolution for production setups; a case study for welding fixtures

Automated design evolution and optimization are concepts of utmost interest to the industry for reducing design time and cost. This paper addresses the development of an automated design solution based on an evolutionary algorithm for a parametric design problem. The design problem addresses welding fixture designs as an integrated geometric design and configuration problem. The suggested automation approach is based on the parameterization of the fixture geometry and the welding process to minimize collisions across moving and static bodies during the welding operation. The aim is to produce a welding fixture design simulation that can be adjusted for specific requirements based on expert knowledge without re-iterating the entire composition of the problem. The modularity is demonstrated by modifications of the design problem formulation aimed at altering the exploration spectrum and design proposals of the welding fixture. An early system integration shows a reduction of designer efforts to 30% compared to a manual process, with an increase in overall process time due to software computational times.</p

Versatile information provisioning in a configure-to-order production environment:a case study

Problems or challenges at operational/tactical levels in configure-to-order production environments are more often than not caused by inadequate information provisioning. Additionally, incomplete, uncertain, and ambiguous information hampers adequate decision making and control. This is especially the case in configure-to-order environments, where there is a high variability in processes. Consequently, standard software solutions often fail to allow for the required flexibility, adaptability, and agility. Moreover, in industry, software solutions (be it PLM, ERP, IoT, …, MES or CAQ solutions), oftentimes tend to become dominant factors in primary processes, thus further stifling the anticipated flexibility. If, however, these software solutions – here conjointly referred to as Digital Infrastructure – are regarded as subcontractors in a digital twinning approach, the primary targets in production/assembly can remain the driver in the overall process. This paper depicts how this digital twinning approach can be used to establish versatile and adaptive information provisioning. To ensure that the approach is not merely a theoretical discourse, the approach is depicted based on a case study. This case study, embedded in a Dutch manufacturing company for special needs bicycles, is rooted in e.g., the seasonal fluctuation in the market, on the broad product portfolio, but foremost on the ability to strengthen customisation as the unique selling point in that portfolio. For this reason, a use case focuses especially on one of the most demanding parts of the production/assembly-line: the welding robot digital twin for frame welding. On the one hand, this twin encounters all product variants and exceptions; moreover, this twinning approach will aim to provide decision support for upscaling of the production facilities. Next to this specific application, the paper also addresses the middleware solution that is under development to integrate individual applications in the bigger company context and strategy