Impact Of A Virtual Twin On Commissioning Time And Quality

Commissioning is a very important and time consuming phase of an automation project. Virtual commissioning allows the programmer to test the control logic before the real hardware is available and results in a reduction of the ramp-up time. In addition, the availability of a virtual model eases quality improvement, condition monitoring, virtual training, etc. The lack of integration with other tools and uniformity in file formats is an important issue that limits the use of virtual commissioning, due to a high effort and in-depth knowledge for the construction of the digital model. This paper gives an overview of academic research on the reduction of this modelling effort. A summary of different virtual commissioning approaches is given, which points out the potential of virtual commissioning using a virtual twin. Main advantages are a reduction of commissioning time and improvement of quality. These benefits where tested by performing a small scale experiment. Results show a similar effect as found in literature. Further research is needed to indicate if these values can be extrapolated to larger automation projects and identify the most influencing parameters. 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.