Conceptual Architecture of Digital Twins with Human-in-the-Loop - Based Smart Manufacturing

Published

November 2, 2023

Author(s)

Duckbong Kim, Mahdi Bajestani, Guodong Shao, Albert T. Jones, Sang Do Noh

Abstract

Smart manufacturing has the goal of finding near-optimal, sustainable, and resilient solutions to various manufacturing problems. It is based on a vision that automation would be the future and human involvement needs to be minimized. Current situation is that some traditional manufacturing processes have been automated, i.e., software and systems control the process, humans are being excluded. However, many manufacturing processes, especially those new ones on the market, are not automated and fully controlled by systems and software. They often require human involvement. This paper proposes a conceptual architecture of digital twin- and human-in-the-loop- based smart manufacturing (DH-SM). Our proposed architecture integrates cyber, physical, and human spaces, where artificial intelligence and human cognition are employed jointly to make informed decisions. This will enable real-time, collaborative decision-making between humans, software, and machines. For example, when evaluating a new product design, information about the product's physical features, manufacturing requirements, and customer demands must be processed concurrently. Moreover, the DH-SM architecture can create an immersive environment that allows customers to be effectively involved in the manufacturing process. The DH-M architecture is well fitted to those relatively new manufacturing processes, such as metal additive manufacturing, since they can benefit using digital twins, data analytics, and artificial intelligence for monitoring and controlling those processes to support non-contact manufacturing. The proposed DH-SM will enable manufacturers to leverage the existing cyber-physical system and extended reality technologies to generate immersive experiences for end-users, operators, managers, and stakeholders. A use case of wire + arc additive manufacturing is discussed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed architecture. Relevant development and implementation challenges are also discussed.

Conference Dates

October 29-November 2, 2023

Conference Location

New Orleans, LA, US

Conference Title

ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) 2023

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Digital Twin, Smart Manufacturing, Human-in-the-loop, Collaborative Decision Making, Non-contact manufacturing, Industrial Metaverse

Citation

Kim, D. , Bajestani, M. , Shao, G. , Jones, A. and Noh, S. (2023), Conceptual Architecture of Digital Twins with Human-in-the-Loop - Based Smart Manufacturing, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) 2023 , New Orleans, LA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=935328 (Accessed April 28, 2024)