Own development model for Integrated Management of Technological Innovation.
Digital Twins to optimise industrial manufacturing processes
Forecasting the operation of a product, a machine or a production process before launch or even design and manufacture is an undeniable asset to determine if there are any errors and to subsequently save costs. In order to achieve this, it is key to focus on the development of modelling and simulation systems, an area that has shown significant advances due to the boost of digital technology.
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a product or process to which real-time data is incorporated captured through sensors or Big-Data technology. Once this information is collected, it is processed with Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing and Machine Learning to produce a living twin on which improvements can be made and capabilities optimised.
This is the context in which the MIRAGED programme is being carried out, an initiative that certifies IDEKO as a Cervera Centre of Excellence. It is framed within the Aid Programme for 2019 Cervera Research Centres of Excellence organised by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and backed by the Centre for Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI) with the aim of strengthening the role of applied research technology centres.
IDEKO is participating in this initiative that seeks to better prepare all entities involved in developing systems for modelling, simulating and predicting the behaviour of machines and manufacturing processes, through the creation of virtual models and digital twins facilitating design and subsequent optimisation.
Three technical lines of action have been set out within the network. The first line of action concerns the creation of "virtual factories” to develop simulation models to study the behaviour of manufacturing processes including hot forming, welding, machining, grinding, induction hardening and non-destructive inspection. The technical advances of the second line of research are aimed at predicting the beginning of a failure in service, at models for predicting the propagation of cracks and the remaining life of the system, and at developing dynamic behaviour models. The third line focuses on integrating the models developed in the previous stages into digital twins.
Within the framework of the MIRAGED programme, IDEKO has identified a series of priority technical objectives such as the development of new advanced models that interact with the manufacturing process through the implementation of digital twins applicable to the production facility. These models and twins will be developed in the areas of expertise of the entity such as grinding, non-destructive inspection, distortion control and machine and process dynamics and control.
These solutions will make it possible to analyse the reaction of a process to certain situations and improve its performance and efficiency. In addition, problems will be detected before they occur, and as such they have a great potential for planning maintenance tasks, designing new, more efficient operating scenarios, developing new manufacturing plans or making future forecasts.
Digital twins can provide additional data through digital sensorisation, generate synthetic data of the behaviour of the replica, determine the system status and life cycle, and facilitate decision-making in machine and system management based on artificial intelligence algorithms. Hence, it would be possible to analyse a large amount of data and transform it into information that would substantiate decisions for optimising the process and increasing productivity.
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