Der Digitale Zwilling als Mediator zwischen Mensch und Maschine

摘要

Increasingly complex mechatronic systems make it more and more difficult for humans to gain easy access to and an intuitive understanding of these inherently non-trivial systems. Their complexity comprises not only the number, variety, structure and connection of components but also the (modular) development process, as well as the control and operation of the final system. Inadequacies in man-machine interaction, human-robot collaboration and cooperation as well as in the systems control, teleoperation and autonomy clearly show the limits of the development and use of current robotic systems. This means, to accompany complex systems from the fundamental research to the end user (develop, monitor, maintain and operate) is the subject of current efforts in research and development. Especially the transitions from (university) research to (industrial) application as well as from developer to customer represent central challenges. A holistic solution is necessary to cope with these challenges, allowing an intuitive access through innovative possibilities of man-machine interaction and thus enabling development and control as well as inherently secure cooperation and collaboration with such complex systems over their entire life cycle. As one of the central concepts of industry 4.0, the Digital Twin---the virtual digital representation of physical assets---shows a variety of possible applications, especially in mechanical engineering and production technology. The Digital Twin, which contains all details of the (mechatronic) system (assembly, functions, use and operation), can be utilized over the entire product life cycle in various forms, such as e.g. for optimized machine design, more efficient commissioning, short changeover times, error-free operation as well as for insight, understanding, prediction and optimization of machine performance. As a vision, the Digital Twin can be used not only as a development tool and status monitor, but also as a central interface technology for intuitive and safe, direct and indirect interaction and cooperation between humans and real systems. In this thesis, a concept is developed to establish the Digital Twin as mediator between man and machine. The Digital Twin then provides an intuitive access to the real robotic system. A Virtual Testbed (VTB)---a software framework for the development of systems across domains, disciplines and applications---provides a runtime environment for such Digital Twins to realize complex systems, to develop and test new ideas, methods and technologies and to solve upcoming challenges. This work represents a conceptual enhancement of such VTBs: With and through the Digital Twin, a VTB can be used for interaction and cooperation between man and machine across life cycles. In addition to the development of the Digital Twin and its embedding into the VTB, the interaction between humans, Digital Twins and physical assets (real robots) is of particular interest. The Digital Twin becomes the mediator between humans and robots and uses the fusion of reality and virtuality to enable intuitive and safe man-machine interaction. Therefore, this thesis encompasses three necessary modules:(a) the development of the Digital Twin and its integration into the VTB as well as the extension of the underlying 3D simulation by specialized frameworks for the utilization and coupling of the capabilities of the Digital Twin and the VTB;(b) the connection of novel input and output devices to the VTB as well as the processing of incoming data in order to provide users with intuitive and direct access to the Digital Twin;(c) the implementation of a communication infrastructure between the Digital Twin and the real robot by standardized interfaces of the VTB with external hard- and software modules. With these building blocks, the Digital Twin can initially be used offline in the development of the system, data-processing modules and user interfaces as well as for the operator training, bu