Abstract:
Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and Machine Tool 4.0 enable our capacity to interact with smarter, self-x and autonomous machine tools known as Cyber-Physical Machine Tools (CPMT). CPMT is the Cyber-Physical System (CPS) form of machine tools. Recent advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have enabled the development of such systems more easily, which can be integrated across and along various hierarchy in an enterprise thus bringing the managerial levels closer to the production level helping to make better and faster decisions ultimately. CPMT also provides us with a better visualization capability, for which the integration of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) provides the support. Although this may be easily integrated onto current systems as they are more interoperable themselves, this is not the case when it comes to a legacy system. This thesis proposes an AR-based monitoring and a VR-based remote-monitoring capability integrated onto the CPMT for a legacy system for better real-time visibility of the machining process. The proposed method allows the legacy machine tool, machining processes, real-time machining data, and machining simulation to be integrated thoroughly via networks. The development methodology of Machine Tool Cyber-Twin (MTCT) which is the core of a CPMT based on various industry standards for communication like Open Platform Communication-Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and Machine Tool-Connect (MTConnect) is also studied. An OPC UA and OPC UA & MTConnect companion based CPMT prototype is developed to validate the proposed system. The case studies show the potential in assisting the user or the operator.
