About this Research Topic

Background

Digital Twins have emerged as a groundbreaking technological innovation in the realm of digital manufacturing, during the transformative era of Industry 4.0 and the emerging concepts of Industry 5.0. Originally conceived by NASA in the 1960s to model and simulate space missions, Digital Twins have evolved into dynamic, data-driven replicas of physical objects, processes, or systems. In the context of digital manufacturing, Digital Twins has thrived by integrating IoT sensors, Big Data analytics, and real-time connectivity. This integration has enabled manufacturers to optimize operations, monitor equipment health, and predict maintenance needs with unprecedented accuracy.

As the digital manufacturing landscape advances towards Industry 5.0, with its emphasis on human-machine collaboration and a more holistic approach, Digital Twins are expected to play an even more vital role. They will facilitate seamless interactions between humans and machines, providing real-time insights and aiding decision-making. This research topic aims to explore the evolution, challenges, and prospects of Digital Twins within digital manufacturing.

To address the critical challenges in the Digital Twin scope within the context of digital manufacturing, we need to focus on:

1. Data Integration and Quality: Ensuring accurate, consistent, and compatible data across systems remains a significant challenge in Digital Twins for digital manufacturing.

2. Security and Privacy: Safeguarding Digital Twin ecosystems from cyber threats and protecting sensitive information becomes crucial as digital manufacturing relies on interconnected data.

3. Interoperability: Achieving seamless communication between different Digital Twin instances, especially in a multi-vendor environment, requires standardized protocols and interfaces.

4. Real-time Updates: Maintaining real-time synchronization between physical and digital systems demands advanced connectivity solutions and low-latency capabilities.

5. Scalability: Scaling Digital Twins for complex, large-scale digital manufacturing operations while preserving performance is a challenge that needs to be addressed.

Recent advances in the field include the use of technologies like Blockchain for secure data management, AI-driven anomaly detection for improved quality control, and edge computing for reduced latency. Interdisciplinary research, collaboration among industry stakeholders, and ongoing technological innovation are crucial for overcoming these challenges and advancing Digital Twins within the realm of digital manufacturing.

This research topic invites contributions on various aspects of Digital Twins relevant to digital manufacturing:

•Creating accurate digital representations of physical systems in the context of digital manufacturing.
•Predicting system behaviour and performance using Digital Twins within digital manufacturing.
•Innovative approaches to ensure the security and privacy of Digital Twins in the digital manufacturing landscape.
•Technologies enabling real-time updates and control of Digital Twins within digital manufacturing.
•Scalability of Digital Twins in complex digital manufacturing environments.
•Integrating Cobots, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) for immersive experiences in digital manufacturing.
•Showcase successful industrial implementations of Digital Twins and Cobots in the context of digital manufacturing.
•Promoting sustainability in digital manufacturing through the leverage of Industry 4.0 technologies and Digital Twins.
•Exploring AI-driven advancements in Digital Twins for digital manufacturing.
•Anticipating the role of Digital Twins in the evolving landscape of Industry 5.0 in the context of digital manufacturing.
•Identifying emerging technologies and trends shaping the future of digital manufacturing in the Industry 5.0 evolution.

Keywords: Cobot, Digital Twin, IoT, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, Service Oriented, Sustainability

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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