Automated Manufacturing Toolchain using Skill-based Digital Twins

Digital twins with a skill-based description are increasingly finding their way into industrial production. Their models link properties of a product with available process capabilities that are realized by resource skills. A matchmaking derives capable resources, e.g. for modular assembly systems. For capability-based planning in manufacturing, integration with computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs is missing. This paper presents an automated toolchain with focus on subtractive manufacturing using skill-based digital twins. Product-Process-Resource (PPR) models are used and enriched with subtractive manufacturing information and further relations. A configurator allows the design of the individual digital product twin, which can synchronously be generated as a 3D model using a CAD service. Necessary subtractive manufacturing steps including capable resources are then determined in a planning environment and fed into the CAM system. This allows an individual generation of machining code based on PPR information, which can be validated on a simulation model. The result is an automated tool chain of different software services, which are composed by a common description of the PPR model and the software services themselves. By defined models and interfaces the toolchain is not restricted to subtractive manufacturing but enables the integration of computer-aided everything (CAx) services.