Protin L., Aggoune-Mtalaa W., Decamps R., Kavka C.
Proceedings of 2025 28th International Conference on Mechatronics Technology ICMT 2025, pp. 14-19, 2025
This article presents an enhanced integration framework of a plug and play digital twin (DT) of robots. The motivation for this study is that to date there is no library dedicated to the implementation of the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI) architecture for digital twins in Node-RED. There is only a knowledge graph library to handle the semantic of a DT model but without any node to link the digital twin and its physical counterpart. Our objective was to design and implement a DT which connects seamlessly the simulation module with the robot and handles the digital twin closed loop. The added value of our lightweight integration framework is twofold. First, the Node-RED orchestrator enhanced with our customized set of nodes, manages the integration of the upper layers of the RAMI architecture, from the data management and information element layer to the decision and user interface element layer. Secondly, a configurable framework enables seamless integration and closed-loop communication between customized controllers and drivers components. In other words, we provide users with a framework to define their own specific key robots components including controllers, drivers, sensors and actuators. The main interest is that the integration is operated once for all, and these components are then the same in the digital and physical world. This avoids to develop twice the same element as for instance a trajectory controller which reduces the discrepancies of behavior between the twins.
