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Airbus and Roche join digital twin project for industrial plants
A group of European technology companies including Airbus, the pharmaceuticals giant Roche and Capgemini Engineering, have joined forces to develop and industrialise a digital ecosystem for industrial and manufacturing environments. The Vims (Virtual IoT Manufacturing System) will deliver detailed visualisations of manufacturing processes from single production lines to complete factories.
The project, which is being developed from the ground up, is using digital twins fed from an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) platform that collects data from sensors as well as hardware such as PLCs, and software systems such as Scada and ERP. This is combined with:
• AI (artificial intelligence) to create smart instructions to optimise the data collection; and
• AR (augmented reality) to visualise processes on assembly lines or across factories.
The ultimate goal is to create a digital twin technology that visualises processes and operations across the shop floor, giving operators, engineers, and managers full control of production lines and factories.
The project is focussing on three particular applications:
• real-time monitoring with predictive calibration and performance;
• virtual training; and
• operator assistance.
The technology is being tested in an Airbus factory in Spain, and Roche pharmaceutical plants in Germany and Switzerland.
The Vims project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 innovation programme, is being led by a Portuguese industrial AR specialist called Glartek. The company, founded in 2017, combines AR and the IoT technologies to bring visibility, optimisation and reassurance to industrial operations. Its customers include Renault, and it has raised more €1.5m in venture capital funding.
A fourth member of the consortium is the IT consultancy SCL.
