| Student | Stanislav Jeršov |
| Supervisor | Aleksei Tepljakov |
| Keywords | extended reality, industry 4.0, digital twins, fluid dynamics, PID control |
| Degree | BSc |
| Thesis language | English |
| Defense date | June 8, 2020 |
| Document link | Download Thesis Document |
Development of Digital Twin in Extended Reality with Unreal Engine 4
Abstract
The present thesis is dedicated to investigating potential applications of Digital Twins in extended reality to control systems. The pursued goal is to develop a pilot prototype, which, after being tested to improve the quality of training on real examples at the university, can also be transferred to the industrial context and used for training engineers of automatic control systems, thus facilitating industrial use of XR and DT. The achievement of goal stated above requires the following problems to be solved:
- Performing a comprehensive literature overview, since any technical thesis should draw from previous R&D results.
- Creation of 3D digital representation of the real object.
- Implementation of real-time system control using PI controller.
- Implementation of real-time change of control parameters and subsequent change of system behavior.
- Comparison of theoretical predictions and practical results to verify the validity of system control.
- Implementation of two-way communication between the real object and the DT.
- Implementation of the ability to influence the real object through interactions with the DT (setting custom set points).
- Data visualization in an intuitive way.
Project results
As a result of this thesis, an augmented reality system was developed that allows to perceive the digital twin of the multi tank system in the real environment. The digital twin is connected to the real-life plant through a real-time protocol, hence all changes in the digital twin are immediately reflected on the real-life plant. The development of the project led to a scientific publication and kick-started the topic for further development (see related videos that showcase the progress).
This thesis won first prize at the Estonian National Student Research Contest of 2020 in the Engineering and Technology category.
Related hardware
Related publications
- S. Jersov and A. Tepljakov, “Digital Twins in Extended Reality for Control System Applications,” in 2020 43rd International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP). IEEE, 2020. [DOI] [Bib]