digital twin

Why automation needs digital twins

Karsten Kreusch. Game Changer
ctrlX WORKS

Whether in relation to components, machinery or complete production processes, these days digital twins play an important role in product lifecycles. As digital replicas of products or processes, they depict their properties, status and behavior and hence connect the real world with a virtual one. As such, they ensure reliable processes throughout the development stage, commissioning and operations and can be used for optimization purposes and to improve quality and increase efficiency. The potential that digital twins possess can also be leveraged for ctrlX AUTOMATION.

Digital twins usually depict various different aspects, e.g. they often combine simulation models with data. Firstly, they can be used to provide a virtual mock-up of products, machinery or plants for simulation purposes. Secondly, they can be used to clearly visualize real-life procedures and processes and hence better understand them as well as test and optimize them virtually and automatically – without having to intervene in reality.

Digital twins can not only improve development and production processes thanks to prognoses but can also improve understanding, contribute to transparency and enhance the performance of the real-life operations of systems or plants. Digital twins make product development simpler, more reliable and more efficient. In addition to the optimization of product features by means of simulation processes, the interplay between hardware and software can, for example, also be tested virtually early on and any errors can be identified and rectified prior to commissioning with zero risks involved. Engineering or production processes can therefore be made more efficient – benefiting not only component and machine manufacturers but end users too.

The so-called asset administration shell (AAS) is becoming the standard for the implementation of digital twins in Industry 4.0 systems and has been standardized in IEC63278. Accordingly, each I4.0 component is represented by an AAS, which forms an information shell for an asset or a hierarchy of assets. It describes all contained sub-models, which depict aspects such as sensor data or positioning mode, as well as available functions. In production, the AAS is used to ensure interoperability and IT security in manufacturing and IT systems by means of a set of standardized interfaces, such as OPC UA, TSN, DetNet, REST, JSON and XML, etc. Bosch Rexroth also aligns itself with this industry standard for the implementation of digital twins, thus continuing the pursuit of its strategy of openness.

Replicating and testing Bosch Rexroth products virtually

ctrlX AUTOMATION provides users with various different ways of using digital twins. Firstly, all sorts of different virtual replicas of Bosch Rexroth’s automation products can be created. Secondly, corresponding partner apps from the ctrlX World can be used for various digital twin applications.

One or more virtual controls can be created on a PC with the software and engineering toolbox ctrlX WORKS and operated via a web-based interface. ctrlX COREvirtual is the virtual version of the real-life control and is based on identical software. The virtual replica can be used to conduct tests and carry out commissioning without any control hardware – with full functionality. The simulation model is, for example, used to test PLC and motion programs. It is also used for communications tests between a control and the I/O level of a system.

Digital twins can also be used to virtually commission, parameterize and optimize products from Bosch Rexroth’s drive and motor range, including as part of considerations concerning mechatronic systems or complete machines. This also applies for the most compact drive system on the market, ctrlX DRIVE. Drive models are available to users for different application scenarios and various simulation systems available on the market, for example for MATLAB/Simulink, Modelica-based systems and ISG Virtuos.

Scalable simulation solutions for different use cases

In addition to the digital twins of ctrlX AUTOMATION products, the openness and expandability of the system offer a wealth of further possibilities. As such, IoT functionalities can, for example, be implemented for acquiring data and thus for generating digital twins of complete production processes. Users can use Bosch Rexroth’s IoT apps or those of partners from the ctrlX World for this. They can even develop their own apps with the Software Development Kit.

Bosch Rexroth offers scalable simulation solutions to suit any requirements through which simulations can be carried out for peripherals, kinematics, dynamics and physics in various topologies. The solutions thus enable an extremely broad range of applications, from kinematic simulation with 3D geometries right through to the connection of high-level simulation systems.

Digital twins are much more than visual reproductions of reality and accompany products as digital shadows all the way through to operations and service. Digital twins are, for example, ideal in mechanical and plant engineering for the real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance of machinery and plants. Digital information can be seamlessly orchestrated in real time.

The possible applications are therefore practically endless. Bosch Rexroth customers therefore have numerous options for easily optimizing processes, improving the quality of their products and achieving safety through transparency – right from the development stage all the way through to ongoing operations.

CMA/Flodyne/Hydradyne is an authorized Bosch Rexroth distributor in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern Indiana.

In addition to distribution, we design and fabricate complete engineered systems, including hydraulic power units, electrical control panels, pneumatic panels & aluminum framing. Our advanced components and system solutions are found in a wide variety of industrial applications such as wind energy, solar energy, process control and more.

The digital twin is the key to the Factory of the Future – Part II
Guest Contributor: Hans Michael Krause, Bosch Rexoth
The modular assembly line of Dassault Systèmes and Bosch Rexroth presented at the Hannover Messe is the result of a change in perspective. Planning production processes coming from the product, instead of the machines – that is what the digital twin can put into effect. Marketplaces for digital twins, IoT Gateway software and open standards will mark the route into the factory of the future.

The demo assembly line from Bosch Rexroth shows how digital twins completely reverse the logic of production, if you think of the Factory of the Future. It is no longer the machines that determine the processes, but the products. A customer’s order automatically leads to the creation of a digital twin. This is connected, for example via an RFID chip as a reference to the blank to inform the machines later about the respective processing steps. As a crucial precondition for this evolution, Bosch Rexroth has already created behavioral models for many automation components, which are available on request for systems engineering. As part of the online configuration, customers already receive the CAD models of the components in the appropriate data format automatically.

Next evolutionary step: Marketplaces for digital twins

In a future scenario that is interesting for mechanical engineers, digital twins could be made available from automation components but also via a marketplace in order to bring them into the simulation environment with a single click. As a result, the OEMs could parameterize the automation immediately, test it and put the entire model into virtual operation quickly and safely. In addition, the marketplace could become a PLM platform, where all digital twins for current and past solutions are available. To prepare for this scenario, Bosch Rexroth is currently seeking a dialog with its customers in order to jointly define the exact requirements for the simulation models.

Pioneering: IoT Gateway software and open standards

In order to achieve continuous improvements in production using the digital twin, the real operating data from the assembly line can be compared with its simulation. This allows the quality of the manufacturing process to be monitored in real time and the maintenance to be modeled and optimized based on the current condition. The assembly line shown at the Hannover Messe also depicts the current state of the art in this respect. The IoT Gateway software from Bosch Rexroth, which is installed on a pocket-sized box PC, collects data from the controller via the Industry 4.0 standard OPC UA and transfers it to a higher-level IT system for visualization and analysis using 5G technology. With regard to the investment security of IoT solutions, Bosch Rexroth consistently relies on open standards such as OPC UA.

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In future, it is no longer the machines that determine the processes, but the products.

Important stage on the way to the Factory of the Future

Dassault Systèmes’ and Bosch Rexroth’s partnership is a powerful testament to the competitive advantages that machine builders and end users derive from a seamless workflow, from virtual engineering to intelligent automation. The digital twin of the demonstration line not only forms the basis for the fastest possible start-up, but also for the quickest possible production changeover and easy continuous process optimization with the help of IoT services. The close partnership of both companies is another stage win along the way to the Factory of the Future.

For more information about the collaboration with Dassault Systèmes and the road to the factory of the future, please read our blog post “With the digital Twin to the Factory of the Future”.

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CMA/Flodyne/Hydradyne is an authorized Bosch Rexroth distributor in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern Indiana.

In addition to distribution, we design and fabricate complete engineered systems, including hydraulic power units, electrical control panels, pneumatic panels & aluminum framing. Our advanced components and system solutions are found in a wide variety of industrial applications such as wind energy, solar energy, process control and more.

With Digital Twin to the Factory of the Future – Part I

Guest contributor: Hans Michael Krause, Bosch Rexroth

Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes will use a modular assembly line to show how the Factory of the Future can be efficiently planned, implemented and continuously improved using digital twins. The key ingredients for this recipe for success: model-based systems engineering, intelligent controls and drives with open interfaces, and continuous improvement through IoT services.

Manufacturers of complex products and machines face the challenge of meeting the most diverse requirements in even shorter development cycles. With a demonstration assembly line, Dassault Systèmes and Bosch Rexroth will show at the Hannover Messe how time-to-market can be shortened with the greatest possible flexibility if production and product engineering seamlessly mesh on the data side. In addition, the turnkey assembly line highlights the added value that machine builders and end users can generate in conjunction with IoT services. The cornerstone of all this is the ‘digital twin’, a realistic depiction of product, production and performance.

 

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At the Hannover Messe, Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes will demonstrate the seamless and profitable interaction of line and product engineering.

“Single source of truth” for the product, production and performance

Dassault Systèmes integrates the sample project from Bosch Rexroth into the integrated engineering workflows of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which provides a central source of information for designers, electricians and programmers. All platform functions for virtual engineering access a common database. For example, the simulation software receives direct access to the design data from the CAD program. In addition, it enables visualization in real time, so that visitors to the Bosch Rexroth booth can observe the 3D model of the demo line connected with the real object in real-time via sensors.

Shortened initial start-up through model-based engineering

The demo assembly line has a modular structure and is based on intelligent, decentralized automation components that are networked horizontally and vertically via open standards. The product that is assembled on the assembly line, the SCD – Sense Connect Detect sensor introduced by Bosch Rexroth, controls itself along the line using an RFID identifier. As in previous projects, such as the WestRock packaging machine, this system has also been developed, put into virtual operation and implemented in a very short time using models in the framework of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In addition to the CAD data, the behavioral models from the automation also flowed into the digital twin.

DC-AE_SMP4_Dassault_AE_Demonstrator_4-768x898The assembly line at the Hannover Messe.

Collaboration between production and product engineering

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform also acts as an interface to the end user. If the user also depicts a product using a digital twin, the system can adjust to their requirements within a short time. An example: a manufacturer of construction vehicles wants to use the SCD sensor in a future excavator to measure vibrations from the hydraulic pump. He uses the sensor model in the virtual prototype of the excavator and defines a required housing modification. Bosch Rexroth then creates a new digital twin, inserts it into the virtual line model and validates the production capability in the simulation environment. In the same way as in this example, machine builders can use their digital twins to test in advance how new variants affect space requirements, stability, geometry, storage life or transport. In addition, the simulation also exposes critical areas for product quality, thereby reducing the risk of product recalls.

Economical production of batch sizes of 1

The close interlinking of product, production and performance via digital twins also allows for much more flexibility in production. This aspect is also illustrated by the joint demo project from Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes. To economically produce different sensor variants in small quantities down to a batch size of 1, Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform works with the system via its MES functions. It transmits the jobs individually to the assembly line via the OPC UA interface, and from there receives the production and quality data for each manufactured SCD sensor.

Dassault Systèmes’ and Bosch Rexroth’s partnership is a powerful testament to the competitive advantages that machine builders and end users derive from a seamless workflow, from virtual engineering to intelligent automation.

The digital twin is the key to the Factory of the Future – Part II  Blog Continued here:

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CMA/Flodyne/Hydradyne is an authorized Bosch Rexroth distributor in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Northern Indiana.

In addition to distribution, we design and fabricate complete engineered systems, including hydraulic power units, electrical control panels, pneumatic panels & aluminum framing. Our advanced components and system solutions are found in a wide variety of industrial applications such as wind energy, solar energy, process control and more.