Douthwaite, J.A., Lesage, B., Gleirscher, M. et al. (4 more authors) (2021) A modular digital twinning framework for safety assurance of collaborative robotics. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 8. 758099. ISSN 2296-9144
Abstract
Digital twins offer a unique opportunity to design, test, deploy, monitor, and control real-world robotic processes. In this paper we present a novel, modular digital twinning framework developed for the investigation of safety within collaborative robotic manufacturing processes. The modular architecture supports scalable representations of user-defined cyber-physical environments, and tools for safety analysis and control. This versatile research tool facilitates the creation of mixed environments of Digital Models, Digital Shadows, and Digital Twins, whilst standardising communication and physical system representation across different hardware platforms. The framework is demonstrated as applied to an industrial case-study focused on the safety assurance of a collaborative robotic manufacturing process. We describe the creation of a digital twin scenario, consisting of individual digital twins of entities in the manufacturing case study, and the application of a synthesised safety controller from our wider work. We show how the framework is able to provide adequate evidence to virtually assess safety claims made against the safety controller using a supporting validation module and testing strategy. The implementation, evidence and safety investigation is presented and discussed, raising exciting possibilities for the use of digital twins in robotic safety assurance.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Douthwaite, Lesage, Gleirscher, Calinescu, Aitken, Alexander and Law. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | collaborative robot safety; digital twins; modular framework; risk-informed software synthesis; probabilistic model checking; automated code generation; human-robot collaboration; robotics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number LLOYDS REGISTER FOUNDATION nan Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/V026747/1 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/V026747/1 UNIVERSITY OF YORK UNSPECIFIED |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Jan 2022 17:27 |
Last Modified: | 12 Jan 2022 17:27 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media SA |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/frobt.2021.758099 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:182317 |