Robots and collaborative robots (cobots) are on the leading edge of factory automation technologies. Digital twins and virtual reality (VR) are on the leading edge of design and development tools. Combined, they can be leveraged to create an industrial metaverse that delivers higher productivity faster, even for small- to medium- sized enterprises (SMEs). Designers at SMEs can benefit from a simple and intuitive interface that combines a digital twin, a highly detailed virtual model of a physical object like a delta, linear, or multi- axis robot, and a 3-dimensional (3D) VR environment to enable direct execution and checking of the robot’s movement sequences.
Using these features supports fine-tuning and optimization of the automation system even without any physical hardware and enables rapid exploration of multiple solution possibilities. This article first reviews the distinction between a mathematical, data-described digital twin and a visual digital twin (VR twin) and how both are needed to create the industrial metaverse. It then presents a robot control system and related software from Igus that can be used to simulate a robot on a 3D interface (visual digital twin) without using any physical hardware, along with compatible delta, linear, and multi-axis robots that can be used to realize the optimized solution.
Digital twins and VR are complementary technologies using different visualization forms, interactions, and hardware. Digital twins are data-based models of physical objects, systems, or processes. They are designed to be used over the entire lifecycle of the item being modeled from initial conception to decommissioning and recycling. VR is an immersive, visually based technology that also uses digital models. In a VR environment, it’s possible to simulate the relationships and interactions between objects, like a robot performing a task. So, while both technologies can be used for design and simulation, digital twin
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