Semantic GIOVE-VF: An Ontology-Based Virtual Factory Tool

Traditionally plant design-and process simulation applications are separated, but increasing use of simulation to support design and validation drives to find means for integration. We propose an ontology-based method for combining 3D plant modelling, large scale process simulation, and visualization. The use of ontologies allows clear distinction of a plant model and a simulation model, which enables multiple simulation models and simulation types to be used with the same plant model. Another contribution is that the same user interface and same visualization techniques can be used with different simulators.

Procedia CIRP, 2013

The paper presents several 3D layout configurator software tools and a library of manufacturing system components to rapidly build up the 3D models of manufacturing systems; some analysis tools to analyze the created 3D models; and some methods to rapidly create 3D models from point cloud of scanned manufacturing facilities. Within the configurators the user can define the following data as input: production process (e.g. type and order of operations), type of production equipment, type of material handling systems (e.g. robots, conveyors), type and sub-type of layout, and some spatial constraints (e.g. distance between machines, spatial arrangement). The configurators are able to create the 3D model of the manufacturing systems based on the selection of an appropriate layout template. The layout templates are defined by the species identified with a cladistic classification system or by the sub-species where each sub-species inherits the characteristics of its species. Based on the selected layout template and the defined production process the appropriate elements of the manufacturing system can be selected by the user from a predefined component library. Such library includes the 3D models and technical data of workstations, machine tools, material handling equipment, etc. Two analysis tools have been developed to evaluate the created 3D models: a collision elimination tool and a robot programming tool. The paper also presents two solutions to rapidly create 3D models from point cloud of scanned manufacturing facilities; as well as an application to automatically create a simplified quasi-volumetric point cloud model that can be used for collision detection.

Semantic Web

Semantically rich descriptions of manufacturing machines, offered in a machine-interpretable code, can provide interesting benefits in Industry 4.0 scenarios. However, the lack of that type of descriptions is evident. In this paper we present the development effort made to build an ontology, called ExtruOnt, for describing a type of manufacturing machine, more precisely, a type that performs an extrusion process (extruder). Although the scope of the ontology is restricted to a concrete domain, it could be used as a model for the development of other ontologies for describing manufacturing machines in Industry 4.0 scenarios. The terms of the ExtruOnt ontology provide different types of information related with an extruder, which are reflected in distinct modules that constitute the ontology. Thus, it contains classes and properties for expressing descriptions about components of an extruder, spatial connections, features, and 3D representations of those components, and finally the se...

IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 2010

Industrial managers are in the expectation that the new generation factories bring more competitiveness to the manufacturing companies through innovative approaches, methods and tools that support the factory planning process. The concept of "factory as a product" perceives the factory as a complex long life product introducing design advantages for factory planning and optimization, seeking to improve quality, reduce ramp-up, product delivery and overall reduce time and costs. In order to attain these objectives, there is an urgent need for an innovative and suitable Virtual Factory Framework to structure the development of new generation factories.

Virtual Engineering Applied to the Factory Planning Process, 2019

This paper describes how the concept of virtual engineering can be applied to the factory planning process. Our journey starts with the definition of what virtual engineering is, its pillars and what benefits this concept brings with respect to the traditional concepts of design used today. It is followed by our definition of what is considered a working environment and the boundaries of the physical-virtual world, and it ends with the applications of virtual and augmented reality technologies in the factory-layout planning process.

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2022

During the design phase of an aircraft manufacturing system, different industrial scenarios need to be evaluated according to key performance indicators to achieve the optimal system performance. It is a highly complex process involving multidisciplinary stakeholders, various digital tools and protocols. To address the digital discontinuity challenge during this process, this paper proposes a tradespace framework based on semantic technology and Model-Based Systems Engineering. It aims at functionality integration of requirement management, architecture definition, manufacturing system design, solution verification and visualization. An application ontology is developed to integrate assembly system domain knowledge, industrial requirements and system architecture model information. The proposed framework is implemented in a case study to support the fuselage orbital joint process design, which is part of the aircraft Final Assembly Line. A toolchain is presented to support the implementation, which consists of a set of enabling software corresponding to the functional modules of the framework. Different manufacturing system architectures are first designed by industrial system engineers supported by the application ontology semantic-driven tradespace framework stored in a graph database. They are then analyzed through Discrete Event Simulations and 3D simulations. The simulation results are presented through a web-based portal to show the key performance values of each architecture. This study serves as a part of the proofof-concept of the recently proposed Cognitive Digital Twin concept.

CAD'14, 2014

NC simulation emulates the CNC machine tool and the cutter move along its axis. It depicts the material removal to better visualize the machining process. Until now, its main goals are still confined to check an unproved NC program to avoid potential collisions, and to analyze undercuts and overcuts. In this work, by using the simulated output-the in-process model (IPM), and rebuilding a machining feature based model, applications of NC simulation are extended to establish the feedback link from CNC to CAM, which can automatically pass modifications of manufacturing engineers back through the digital chain. In cases when old CAD archives of parts are incompatible with new systems and machines, or are damaged or lost, the original CAD model is neither available nor usable, and the part program is the only data available, rebuilding the feature based model from the NC simulation is necessary. This paper proposes an approach for machining feature recognition from IPM. As per the IPM characteristics, the approach adopts a novel approach of curvature based region segmentation and valuated adjacency graph based feature recognition.

2019

This paper describes how the concept of virtual engineering can be applied to the factory planning process. Our journey starts with the definition of what virtual engineering is, its pillars and what benefits this concept brings with respect to the traditional concepts of design used today. It is followed by our definition of what is considered a working environment and the boundaries of the physical-virtual world, and it ends with the applications of virtual and augmented reality technologies in the factory-layout planning process.

Procedia CIRP, 2013

Rapidly changing products and market demand call for manufacturing systems to be continuously adapted and developed. The process of modifying manufacturing systems requires large amounts of planning involving contributions from personnel across an organization. These people need a shared understanding of the future system, including but not limited to its design, functions, and expected performance. One common representation in the virtual manufacturing system domain are 2D CAD layouts. Typical problems with such traditional 2D models are that only experts understand the content fully. For increased understanding, 3D CAD models could bridge the gap between different areas of expertise. However, creating 3D models representing the complete system is traditionally time-consuming, resulting in oversimplified models or limited to parts of the system. Furthermore, such models normally contain uncertainty about building-related geometries that could incur costly mistakes if used as basis for decisions, e.g. realizing during installation of a machine that roof-f f beams interfere with the planned placement. This paper evaluates what type of problems can be solved with better visualization support, e.g. issues concerning workshop-layout, production flow, workplace design, etc. The evaluation is based on two case studies at different manufacturing sites during ongoing system redesign processes. The case studies implemented visualization using a combination of CAD models and 3D laser scanned as-built data of the current . Bringing this concept into the early phases of manufacturing system redesign has the potential to facilitate the creation of a shared understanding of the future system within cross-functional project teams.

Computer-Aided Design and Applications, 2018

Realistic visualization of products is now a must-have for all companies facing worldwide and highly competitive market. Despite Virtual Reality technologies are appealing, its industrial use is still limited to conceptual design and prototyping activities. One of the reason is that generating Virtual Reality (VR) environment is a complex and time-consuming task, especially for complex products or systems. Many technical data are involved in their design and conguration. A meaningful example is the preliminary conguration of assembly lines devoted to deliver a quotation to the customer. To be competitive, the quotation should be completed in tight time and contain variants of the congured system ranging dierent costs. Moreover, high-impact and successful quotation goes beyond the merely technical aspect. In this view, the automatic generation of a virtual reality environment can foster the adoption of this technology in industry, since its setup time is short and doesn't require any skills. In this paper, the integration of a VR module in product conguration and quotation process is proposed. The framework is a Knowledge-based Engineering (KBE) system that, taken the customer requirements as input is able to automatically generate a bunch of dierent solutions. Starting from technical data coming from a KBE system, a virtual environment is generated automatically tting the features of the congured solution. Furthermore, the immersivity of the VR scene is enhanced by integrating the animation of the objects, like robots and pallets. After a brief description of the KBE system, the paper details the information is involved in, the implementation of the VR module and its integration within the KBE framework.