Aware - Smart Track

AWARE – Digital Twin and Industrial Internet of Things for Manufacturing 4.0

CO-FINANCED BY: Liguria Region. Expenditure co-financed with POR FESR Liguria 2014-2020 resources (CUP G32C21000610007)

The project stems from the consideration that Industry 4.0 technologies such as the Digital Twin and internet of things, applied to the Manufacturing sector, permit improved: operations monitoring, assistance to operators, supply chain planning and production process.

The project involves the application of different technologies in two manufacturing environments with different levels of complexity: machinery production and a shipyard.
The plan is to implement two different application cases to demonstrate the universality of the basic concepts which can be successfully applied in different manufacturing scenarios.
The digital shipyard integrates people, processes and technologies to support operations carried out by internal staff and workers. It covers a broad spectrum of business processes, such as plant maintenance, asset management, condition-based maintenance and reliability-centered maintenance, among others to provide advanced prognostic, health management and resource management solutions.

The Digital Twin is a 3D model that can simulate daily activities and provide critical information on the functioning of the processes running on the construction site.

The Digital Twin permits the performance of all production activities, their synchronization, and their progress to be monitored. In this way, through the simulation tool, the Digital Twin will be able to anticipate critical situations in project management, also by integrating information from the field (the construction site) with that of the supply chain.

The project therefore aims to provide an indispensable contribution to the shipbuilding industry. Two case studies were considered, one involving the Fincantieri macro end user and the other the Dem end user. This was done to demonstrate a general model for the Digital Twin and a solution applicable to different industrial realities. The application case for the Digital Twin involves a machine responsible for the production and control of stator or rotor packs for electric motors.

As part of the project, the IIoT platform will allow the following functions:

Integrate field-installed technology components with maximum flexibility
Manage bi-directional data flows from sensors, devices, PLCs, systems, etc. to enable a "sensing-actuating" model in real-time
Create a Data Lake to connect the physical environment with the virtual environment of the product by supporting technologies such as a Digital Twin and Augmented Reality
Enable customized monitoring and control services, support workflow management, cooperative working and statistical analysis solutions
Increase safety during field operations by integrating real-time data acquired by human operators with digital models
Easily integrate with systems that may already exist

Smart Track’s role

Participation in the AWARE project is strategic because it allows us to explore the shipbuilding sector and a complex production context that we previously hadn’t studied and analyzed. Smart Track shares its expertise in the study and development of innovative IoT solutions based on the latest enabling Industry 4.0 technologies and integrates them with the Digital Twin ecosystem platform.

Smart Track acquires new knowledge specific to shipbuilding for this project, enabling it to adapt the methodologies, algorithms and technological solutions it already possesses and develop new competitive approaches with possible new patents.

This approach is strategic for Smart Track as it allows it to expand and consolidate its offer by increasing its competitiveness both in the reference market in which it operates but also in the new areas of the AWARE project.