Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a rapid transition from face-to-face teaching-learning process to an online format at all universities worldwide. This situation, together with that practical experiences are critical to the learning process across all domains of engineering [1], has led to major developments of technological resources that allow connecting theoretical and practical concepts in simple and attractive ways. However, in the educational laboratory landscape, the virtualization of education has been a reality for years, mainly due to its benefits in student learning, low investment and maintenance costs, as well as in time management in the laboratory and individual student work, among others. This has had a great impact on the new paradigms in control subjects, where it is necessary to encourage active learning and the development of skills based on challenges, in the last decade by means of the use of virtual laboratories (VLs) [2].

Although the terminology has changed over time, the term digital twin (DT) is commonly used in industry to refer a high-fidelity virtual representation of a physical product or process to understand, simulate, predict, and optimize such a reality [3,4]. As opposed to traditional VLs, DTs allow much more realistic and accurate simulations of the real system through real-time 3D models that mimic the system behavior (they show the same reactions to inputs as those of the real system), which could be more attractive for students. Likewise, another important characteristic that defines DTs is that these resources are connected with the physical reality and interchange data with it, in both directions, in real time. This could be interesting to illustrate some control concepts or strategies. Despite their benefits at industry as an essential technology within digital transformation in the era of Industry 4.0, the use of this type of resource in education is relatively new [3,4].

Given this context, the objective of this work is to develop DTs of real equipment, created in the MATLAB/Simulink environment by means of the toolbox Simscape Multibody, to support teaching in automatic control in the laboratory in engineering degrees. In particular, this paper shows the first steps in building the DT of a widely-used cart-pendulum platform, the model 33-935 Digital Pendulum by Feedback Instruments, which will allow students to perform different control problems, such as cart position, crane, balance, and swing-up. For illustration purposes, a set of possible control exercises that can be carried out by students using the developed DT are proposed.

References:
[1] S. Dormido, “Control Learning: Present and Future,” Annual Reviews in Control, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 115–136, 2004.
[2] R. Heradio, L. de la Torre, S. Dormido, “Virtual and Remote Labs in Control Education,” Annual Reviews in Control, vol. 42, pp. 1–10, 2016.
[3] A. Liljaniemi, H. Paavilainen, “Using Digital Twin Technology in Engineering Education. Course Concept to Explore Benefits and Barriers,” Open Engineering, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 377–385, 2020.
[4] M. Singh, E. Fuenmayor, E. P. Hinchy, Y. Qiao, N. Murray, D. Devine, “Digital Twin: Origin to Future,” Applied System Innovation, vol. 4, no. 2: 36, 2021.

Keywords:

Digital twin, simulator, laboratory, automatic control, Simulink.