Simumatik contributes to a sustainable and efficient industry
August 2021
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Demand for Digital Twins is growing, both in industry and education. It is an important technology to support organizations in their digitalisation journey and simplify working at home during the pandemic.
Simumatik’s cloud-based platform allows organizations to build detailed models of automated solutions to work more efficiently and flexibly.
Digitization in industry and education is a need that has proven to be important during the ongoing pandemic. The flexibility of being able to switch between the office and the home is a great advantage for organizations, and can be the difference between downsizing the business or being able to continue. Digital models are therefore an important technology that allows engineers and students to continue working and studying when they do not have access to the physical equipment.
Mikel Ayani , CEO of Simumatik says:
“Our purpose is to enable our customers to work more efficiently and sustainably by using digital twins. We want to “democratize” technology and make it possible to work with advanced and expensive equipment in a secure virtual environment. Our customers only need a computer with a browser to be able to work with virtual equipment that looks and behaves like the real thing.”
Emulation: When details play a big role
Digital models have been around for a long time, and since the 80’s, computers have made it possible to quickly develop various simulation techniques to support researchers and engineers in their work. The “Finite Element Method” (FEM) is used to solve physical problems such as heat conduction, electric fields and strength at a very detailed level. These are complex models that are very slow to calculate. In addition, “Discrete Event Simulation” (DES) is used in industry to model systems on a larger scale. The smaller level of detail enables you to execute models much faster than in real time and simulate, for example, a product flow and find bottlenecks. The emulation technology that Simumatik has developed for its platform makes it possible to model each component in a system individually, by defining properties and behavior in a 3D environment. Then you build a virtual system by placing and making connections between the components exactly as in reality. The results are a model that is executed in real time and corresponds to the real one on a functional level.
You can build digital models of everything you can think of: different types of sensors, electric and pneumatic actuators, robots or control systems. The physics engine takes care of the kinematics and collisions, so if something is wrong in the assembly or programming so you can see the results before you risk damaging people or equipment.
Digital and sustainable future
Building automated solutions for industry is a complex process for machine manufacturers and integrators. In the ongoing fourth industrial revolution, manufacturing companies are moving from mass production to custom production, which requires new technology and more advanced and flexible production systems. This makes solutions even more complex and requires the use of new technology, e.g. “Artificial Intelligence” (AI).
The Simumatik Platform makes it possible to build the digital system first and be able to detect design or construction problems long before building the physical system. System integrators can save a lot of time and money by working more efficiently, while delivering more robust solutions to their customers.
In order to strengthen competence in industry and train the engineers of the future, it is important that the use of digital twins is introduced in higher education institutions: upper secondary schools, vocational schools and universities. By building digital models of existing lab equipment, teachers can make it possible to conduct training more efficiently and even at a distance.
With digital twins, students can work simultaneously at their own pace, each with their own digital lab in their computer. They may also have access to equipment that higher education institutions may not be able to physically purchase. It is important for us at Simumatik that everyone has the opportunity to learn the latest technology and get ready for working life.
You can also find this article in Swedish published in NyTeknik.se