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02DIGITAL TWIN

Festo Digital Twin

Physical Festo demonstration setup measured and recreated as a CAD/kinematic model in Siemens NX Mechatronics Concept Designer, then linked to Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 through OPC UA for virtual testing.

Academic project · Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen

Supervision: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nicolai Beisheim

  • DEMO AVAILABLE
  • SOURCE PRIVATE
  • NX MCD
  • TwinCAT 3
  • OPC UA
  • Virtual Testing
Project on GitHub (opens in a new tab)Full demo (opens in a new tab)
Digital representation of the Festo demonstration setup in Siemens NX MCD.
SIEMENS NXMCDOPC UATWINCAT 3VIRTUAL TEST /PHYSICAL REFERENCE

DIGITAL MODEL

The physical setup becomes the digital model

The physical Festo demonstration setup was measured and rebuilt as a CAD/kinematic model in Siemens NX MCD.

COMMUNICATION

OPC UA links the model and TwinCAT 3

OPC UA connects the NX MCD model with the TwinCAT 3 control environment.

VIRTUAL TESTING

A multi-step sequence checks integration behaviour

A time-based Structured Text sequence checks communication and virtual model response.

MY CONTRIBUTION

Recreating the physical setup for virtual testing

  • Measured the physical Festo demonstration setup and built a new CAD/kinematic model in Siemens NX Mechatronics Concept Designer as the basis for the digital twin.

  • Integrated the virtual model with Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 through OPC UA.

  • Used a time-based, open-loop Structured Text test sequence to evaluate the virtual sequence and system behaviour.

RESULT

Connecting physical analysis, modelling and virtual testing

The project connected physical system analysis, CAD/kinematic modelling, PLC integration and virtual testing in one mechatronic workflow.

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