Micro Manufacturing Unit – Creating Digital Twin Objects with Common Engineering Software

Abstract

A Micro Manufacturing Unit (MMU) used in this research is meant for digital twin research environment to study how to construct a digital twin from scratch and what kind of information is needed to describe the realistic behavior of the digital model of a micro manufacturing unit. The basis for a digital twin is an actual machine and imitating digital model. The basic model for a digital twin of the MMU will be built using production and part simulation software (FlexSim), permitting the immediate integration of the machine in an industrial context, and allowing to control all the parameters of the production system afterward. This study presents basic logic and software logic how to build an imitative model with engineering tools used commonly in development of production processes. The study shows that common engineering tools are not ready yet to the daily basis usage of virtual reality. Furthermore, the study shows that at the moment advanced coding skills are needed to create an appropriate model for digital twin purposes.