Integrating 3D object detection with ontologies for accurate digital twin creation in manufacturing systems

Abstract The digitization of manufacturing resources through digital twins (DTs) enhances operational efficiency and resource management. Ontologies play a key role in maintaining semantic consistency within DT systems. However, existing ontology-based approaches face challenges, including limited adaptability, integration of heterogeneous data—such as 3D images—and high manual effort in ontology development. These limitations hinder the scalability of DT implementations. Traditional 2D imaging often lacks spatial accuracy in complex manufacturing environments, causing inefficiencies and higher costs. Integrating richer data with intelligent frameworks is crucial for improving production and adaptability. The proposed study addresses these challenges by introducing a methodology that integrates existing ontologies with advanced 3D object detection models. The proposed approach employs two fully automated pipelines: one for detecting manufacturing resources from 3D images and another for mapping them into ontologies, ensuring seamless integration into DT frameworks. By leveraging established ontologies, the methodology enhances interoperability, reduces implementation complexity, and facilitates scalable deployment of DT systems across various industrial applications. Additionally, a comparative analysis of multiple advanced 3D detection models provides valuable insights to guide the selection of optimal solutions for diverse industrial settings. Experimental results show that YOLOv8 achieved the highest performance, with 91% classification accuracy, 86% precision, 81% recall, and the fastest inference time of 0.66 s. For ontology population, four machine labels— Robot , MillingMachine , BandSaw , and Lathe —were successfully integrated using a semantic similarity-based mapping strategy, enabling automated class creation and merging. This innovative framework sets a new benchmark for DT implementations, offering enhanced accuracy, efficiency, and semantic coherence in modern manufacturing.