Imitate the virtual world

Imagine being able to make a complete machine - cut it with the right tool set, at the right speed, using the most compatible materials - before setting foot in the workshop or ordering any of the things that work for you. This is all possible with the idea of digital twins, which is one of the cornerstones in Industry 4.0.

Digital Twin is a powerful software model of past, present or future or product or system behavior, which enables us to emulate it. Bengt Olsson, Product Information Specialist at Sandvik Coromant, explains: “Simply put, it's like having an avatar of a real, dynamic object and behaving in the same way that the real thing would put it. This avatar fits well into the digital world of tweets, blogs and streams, and blurs the lines between the digital and physical worlds. ”

Repetition of human technology

Sandvik Coromant has already used digital twin technology to replicate some of the human skills of its technical engineers, including the art of being able to "feel" that the edge of the machine becomes dull. The company has also contributed to the broader development of digital twin technology, by working on various plug-and-play solutions and helping to establish a global tool library, where digital twins can draw any tool data they need to create the most effective tool for specific machine purposes.

Through the use of knowledge levels and plug-and-play technology, a new communication feature becomes a reality, where physical objects interact with applications.

Olsson argues that the real power of digital twins is that it provides access to structured information and enables artificial intelligence to learn from past experiences and deal with neurological challenges, thus helping to predict real-life outcomes.