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The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, an ecosystem of nearly 400 member organizations across industry, government and academia catalyzing critically needed robotics and workforce innovations in manufacturing, has selected a new joint short-cycle project from Wichita State University’s (WSU) National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita, Kan., U.S.) for a $400,000 award.  

The project, titled “Technology Assessment of Virtual Commissioning for Day One Manufacturing Readiness,” involves the development of digital twins for complex manufacturing systems to reduce costs, errors and hazards that may not be apparent in the design phase.

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Simulating systems by using digital/virtual twins enables system testing in a digital environment prior to installation for more successful installs and better “day one” experiences. NIAR researchers will create a report detailing the framework for the creation of a virtual twin for commissioning, and all of the steps involved in its development. The framework package will contain the data and considerations needed to develop a full digital twin.

“The NIAR team’s extensive experience with utilizing digital twins for end-to- end digital engineering, along with our expert steering committee, will be pivotal in assisting the industry’s continued adoption of virtual commissioning,” says Jeswin Joseph C., NIAR program manager and associate director of emerging technologies.

NIAR is seeking representatives for the expert steering committee. This committee will assess technology gaps in virtual commissioning and the creation of digital twins for physical robotic/automation cells, defining and guiding the use of virtual commissioning in advanced manufacturing for the next 5-10 years. To contribute, . 

ARM Institute projects are selected from Project Calls. These Project Calls are crafted in collaboration with the ARM Institute’s internal team of experts, ARM members, and Department of Defense (DOD) collaborators. The 23-01 Technology Project Call specifically called for proposals to address topic areas including automated robotic task planning; multi-robot, multi-human collaboration, task sharing and task allocation; safe and scalable manufacturing of energetics; artificial intelligence (AI) in robotics for manufacturing; and discovery workshops and market studies.