Evolvable Operational Digital Twin Architecture for Real-Time Field-Level Control of Distributed, Adaptable and Self-Organizing Manufacturing Systems

Prof. Birgit Vogel–Heuser (IEEE Fellow)

Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany

Chair: Prof. Maria Pia Fanti, Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy    

Room:"Aula Magna Attilio Alto"

Abstract

Integrating digital representations into industrial automation offers substantial benefits, particularly in enhancing the understanding and optimization of manufacturing processes during runtime, as exemplified by the KI.Fabrik (translated as AI.Factory) at the German Museum in Munich (https://kifabrik.mirmi.tum.de). Use cases illustrate these advantages: dynamic fault handling, where strategies are identified and evaluated within the Digital Twin to maintain operational continuity, and dynamic task scheduling optimization based on the real-time status of the field-level system. Beyond enabling new use cases by integrating a live Digital Twin into industrial automation, strict hard real-time and reliability requirements should be met, posing significant challenges due to various factors. Among the challenges, the stringent requirements for real-time performance and reliability create a bottleneck in the volume of data that can be utilized. Consequently, an exact integraareon between data exploration processes within the Digital Twin and its response is essential to meet these demands. Addressing these challenges cannot be achieved through a single technology alone but requires a collective approach involving multiple domains, operational phases and a holistic perspective on signal flow and processing. This talks presents a Digital Twin architecture that integrates concepts from skill-based systems, multi-agent systems, and Digital Twin technologies across the entire lifecycle of an automated production plant. It is demonstrated through use cases, showing how Digital Twins can be used at runtime.

Biography of Prof.  Vogel-Heuser - https://www.professoren.tum.de/en/vogel-heuser-birgit

The research interests of Prof. Vogel-Heuser are in the area of systems and software engineering as well as in the modeling of distributed and reliable embedded systems.

Birgit Vogel-Heuser holds a Dipl. Ing. degree in electrical engineering and a Dr.-Ing. degree in mechanical engineering from the RWTH Aachen, Germany. Over ten years, she acquired industrial experience in industrial automation. After different professorship positions, she was appointed to the Chair of Automation and Information Systems at the Technical University Munich in 2009. Her research is focussing on evolvable field-level automation and appropriate architectures for manufacturing and logistics systems. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering in Germany. She has held the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany since 2024.