Abstract
A Digital Twin is the concept of creating a digital replica of physical models (such as a robot). This is similar to establishing a simulation using a robot operating system (ROS) or other industrial-owned platforms to simulate robot operations and sending the details to the robot controller. In this paper, we propose a Digital Twin model that assists in the online/remote programming of a robotic cell by creating a 3D digital environment of a real-world configuration. Our Digital Twin model consists of two components, (1) a physical model: FANUC robot (M-10iA/12), and (2) a digital model: Unity (a gaming platform) that comes with specialized plugins for virtual and augmented reality devices. One of the main challenges in the existing approach of robot programming is writing and modifying code for a robot trajectory that is eased in our framework using a Digital Twin. Using a Digital Twin setup along with Virtual Reality, we observe the trajectory replication between digital and physical robots. The simulation analysis provided a latency of approximately 40 ms with an error range of −0.28 to 0.28∘ across the robot joint movements in a simulation environment and −0.3 to 0.3∘ across the actual robot joint movements. Therefore, we can conclude that our developed model is suitable for industrial applications.
Highlights
Published: 16 September 2021At present, most industrial simulation software is based on an offline simulation, where we set up the simulation environment and generate a program, which can be transferred to a physical system [1]
The key contribution of this paper is that we developed a Digital Twin model of an industrial robot, which helps in controlling a Physical Robot (PR) in synchronization with a digital model for a desired robot trajectory
This is a considerable improvement compared to the 150 ms that was reported in previous research [41]
Summary
Most industrial simulation software is based on an offline simulation, where we set up the simulation environment and generate a program, which can be transferred to a physical system [1]. The programs developed through offline simulation environments lack accuracy, which results in time-consuming rework overhead on physical models [2]. To overcome this limitation, the Digital Twin comes with the Online. Simulation, allowing one to connect with the robot and move it along the desired path on the simulation screen and actual model. For industrial purposes, CAD software for 3D modeling is used. At present, CAD software does not support file formats, such as filmbox (.fbx), collado (.dae), that are supported by game engines [4]
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