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Digital twin and virtual commissioning

Standardized and consistent use of the digital twin in mechanical and plant engineering

Discover the potential of the digital twin! In the context of the Industrial Internet of Things (Industry 4.0), this concept plays a key role, because it is intended to bundle all relevant information models for automation components and functional chains, and provide them as a digital representation. This includes, for example, technical data, documentation as well as geometry and simulation models, which should be available and usable throughout the lifecycle: from the engineering to virtual commissioning (VCOM) and the operating phases through to recycling. Immerse yourself in the world of the digital twin and take your engineering and your production to the next level with our support.

Digital twins are much more than just 3D models. They are digital images of real physical objects with a variety of information about the components and system contexts. This includes the unique description of their capabilities, their role within the machine, their behavior, the simulation of their kinematics and kinetics and their communication. Festo started an important development with the development of the Asset Administration Shell and the co-founding of the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) in 2020. This creates a digital infrastructure that forms a standardized basis for all market players (users, tool manufacturers, component manufacturers).

The Asset Administration Shell

The Asset Administration Shell is a concept that practically implements digital twins and creates interoperability between the solutions of different providers. It enables the use of various communication channels and applications and serves as a link between objects of the internet of things and the networked, digital and distributed world.

The Asset Administration Shell consists of a number of sub-models in which all information and functionalities of a specific asset are described. These sub-models can contain features, characteristics, properties, status, parameters, measurement data and capabilities and offer standardized and manufacturer-independent access across all lifecycle phases.

Exemplary use cases for the use of the digital twin

Digital product label

Type plates attached to the product are limited in their information content by the available area on the product or by the size of the product and the usable font size. The "Digital Nameplate" sub-model makes all relevant information, including certificates and documentation, available in digital form.

These are your advantages:

  • Saves time and money: immediate access to the latest documents
  • No printing and logistics costs: valid, manufacturer-independent standard according to DIN SPEC 91406
  • Sustainability: saves resources and makes paper documentation superfluous
  • Worldwide availability: makes documents in the respective national language and the local certificates (CE, CCC,...) available

Structured machine-readable technical data

Technical data from components and systems are recorded in a separate sub-model and are available in a structured and semantically clear manner. In contrast to today's documentation, this information can therefore be recorded and processed automatically.

These are your advantages:

  • A central information container contains all important product data.
  • No cumbersome search in manufacturer-specific online portals or paper documentation.
  • The technical data and features are clearly described semantically and are available for machine processing.

Virtual commissioning

Tailored behavior models for virtual commissioning enable the development steps to be carried out in parallel, thereby shortening the time to market.

These are your advantages:

  • Reduced time required for development and commissioning of machines and systems.
  • Increased model quality by using Festo's domain knowledge.
  • Reduction of the development and maintenance effort for model libraries.