Návrh a použití digitálních dvojčat mechatronických systémů

Abstract

The digital twin concept is one of the most discussed topics in the ongoing era of the digitalisation of industry, driven by the demand for innovative solutions. The discussion about a digital twin often revolves around what it represents and what value it can bring. The goal of the dissertation is to investigate the concept of digital twin in the development and use of the Stewart platform test rig. The defined purpose of the digital twin is to detect overloading and workspace violation of the Stewart platform.

Development of the Stewart platform is supported with the tools for virtual prototyping, especially the Matlab/Simulink software that supports multibody dynamics simulation. The core element of a design phase is a created multibody simulation model. After an experiment that verified its dynamic properties, the simulation model is reused as a virtual entity of the digital twin. The verification experiment was identified as an important milestone in the development of the digital twin. The use of the digital twin is presented in application experiments referred to as the "offline" and "online" digital twin variants. It is demonstrated that both approaches can fulfil the defined purpose. Although the "online" variant was identified as technically more complex, it offers a significant advantage over the first variant. It allows the control system to immediately react to unexpected applied external forces or changes in system properties that manifest themselves in the change of acting forces. This can be of significant practical importance, especially in scenarios where the Stewart platform workspace is shared with humans or other machines.

The digital twin proved its ability to enhance the mechatronic system. Subsequently, if we consider the digital twin concept from the beginning of the development process, the used methods, tools, and system components can be synergically aligned for its implementation. The results also imply that the key factors for successful implementation of the digital twin is sufficient fidelity of the virtual entity and possibly its synchronisation with the physical entity in real-time. Based on these insights the general recommendations for the development of mechatronic systems and its digital twins were formulated.