Towards a digital twin by merging discrete event simulations, augmented reality and the internet of things

Abstract

This work presents the creation and implementation of an augmented reality system to a partial digital twin for a manufacturing process through the application of discrete event simulations, IoT tools and communication protocols in an industrial environment through a mobile app presentation. This approach will take a non-connected manufacturing process and adapt it to a smart factory environment creating an intercommunicated DES system with IoT and augmented reality capabilities. This approach was achieved using a real study case which consists in a machine generating items from a percentage of the input material while the rest of the material is stored in a recovery chamber to use it again in another item creation. This process was used as an example to create a partial digital twin and implement all the tools mentioned before.

This work will allow to know all the process parameters, data related to the process like cycle time, number of pieces, time per process status, etc., this information will be used to create a system in which a real-time visualization of the process and its data can be performed through the use of augmented reality tools achieved by Unity 3D software. This approach will help to create a visualization for the partial digital twin, its process and results in a real context and even allow the user to modify its conditions before their implementation through a user interface, allowing to create an infrastructure that support different scenarios, process optimizations, and know possible future conditions.