Virtualisation process of a sheet metal punching machine within the Industry 4.0 vision

摘要

This paper presents the process to construct a digital twin for a sheet metal punching machine to support the interactive design of optimal NC machining programs. The results show that this entity manages to simulate interactively the basic behaviour of the actual sheet metal machine: movements, machining operations and connectivity with robotic arms. Using Ethernet/IP communication protocol, Digital Twins can be connected and cooperate to simulate virtual production lines. The paper concludes with the necessity of going deeper in the virtualisation of the sheet metal machining process, by adding more realistic physical behaviour (heat transfer, accelerations...) and connecting the Digital Twin with real mechanical parts under new simulation tools.