Digital Twin-Based Virtual Simulation Method for Visualization Monitoring of Flexible Production Lines Towards Intelligent Manufacturing

With the in-depth development of intelligent manufacturing worldwide, flexible production modes and corresponding production lines for personalized, customized, small-batch, and multi-variety products have become the dominant force in today’s manufacturing industry. To address the challenges of real-time information interaction and visualization monitoring in the flexible production lines (FPLs), this paper conducts in-depth research on the 3D visualization simulation of FPLs based on digital twin (DT) according to the characteristics of FPLs and the demand for intelligent development. Firstly, a five-layer DT framework for 3D visualization monitoring of FPLs is proposed, which is divided into the physical entity layer, twin model layer, twin data layer, application service layer, and connection transport layer. The corresponding DT models of the twin model layer are then organized at the atomic, unit, and system levels and described from four dimensions: geometric physical, attribute information, behavioral logic, and constraint rules. On this basis, the data interconnection mechanism, real-time data-driven twin model mapping, and twin data management methods of the above DT framework are further studied. Finally, a representative machining FPL for mechanical processing is selected as a case study, a virtual simulation system of FPLs for 3D visualization monitoring based on DT is developed and implemented. Through the implementation and application in the field operation, the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method and developed system are verified.