Articles on TORUS

TORUS가 언급된 논문, 컨퍼런스, 뉴스를 찾아보세요. 제조 현장에서의 TORUS의 역할을 알아보세요.

On-demand bi-directional augmented reality for adaptable instructions of machine tools operations

In modern manufacturing, seamless interaction between operators and machines is critical to efficiency and flexibility. Augmented reality instructions have emerged as an intuitive way to provide real-time guidance, reducing errors and improving productivity. However, traditional AR-based instruction systems face several challenges, including high development and maintenance costs, limited flexibility in accommodating new equipment, and unidirectional interaction that restricts real-time operator feedback. This paper proposes a bi-directional augmented reality instruction system utilizing the Asset Administration Shell to enhance adaptability and scalability in heterogeneous industrial environments. The proposed system integrates standardized instruction representation and neutral communication protocol, allowing real-time data exchange between physical machines and AR interfaces while maintaining a standardized and modular structure. By separating AR content from application programming, the system enables instruction updates and modifications without requiring software redevelopment. Additionally, bidirectional communication allows operators to not only receive instructions but also modify machine parameters directly through the AR interface. To validate the proposed approach, the system was implemented on two machine tools with distinct configurations. Experimental results demonstrated that AR instruction development efforts were reduced by over 70%, while real-time machine control through the AR interface significantly improved operational efficiency. The proposed framework enables cost-effective and flexible AR instruction systems, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises facing resource constraints and diverse equipment environments.

YD Kim, JH Moon, JS Park, J Um

The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology

The Development of REST API Gateway Application Using Unified CNC Interface Platform

As the manufacturing industry adopts smart technologies, the demand for industrial applications that can interact with various manufacturing equipment has increased. CNCs are the core units that control machine tools, which make up the majority of manufacturing sites. Therefore, communication with CNCs is essential for collecting machine tool status information. However, since each CNC manufacturer uses a different communication interface, implementing mutually exclusive CNC communication methods is necessary when developing industrial applications. To allow application developers to focus on functionality without having to consider heterogeneous CNC communications, a unified CNC interface platform called TORUS was developed and publicly released. However, because TORUS operates only on Windows OS, there are limitations to its integration with existing systems at manufacturing sites. To address this issue, a TORUS-based gateway application has been proposed. This paper explains the necessity and role of the gateway application and demonstrates how it can effectively lower entry barriers to research and development related to smart factories. It also presents an example of how TORUS can be utilized through the REST API, which is widely used in modern manufacturing environments. Additionally, it provides guidelines for developing TORUS gateway applications that support interfaces or protocols beyond the REST API.

YD Kim, DY Lee

International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Smart Technology

Smart Cognitive HMI With Automated Knowledge Extraction for Machine Tool

In the field of machine tools, it is general to use facilities from various vendors with different interfaces. However, manuals that vary from machine to machine and are less portable and usable, are adding the burden. In this case, the digital intelligent assistant can be used as an easy and unified interface to communicate with users and increase work efficiency. However, applying a digital assistant requires a large amount of dataset and effort separately, and there is a limitation that it only plays a role in a specific situation designed. In this paper, we propose a smart and cognitive chatbot with a dataset-constructing pipeline to solve the problems. The proposed pipeline aims to build a dataset and update source data for the chatbot automatically. It provides relevant manual context, machine status, current operation, and operation sequence, depending on the users’ intention. It utilizes various AI technologies including optical character recognition, reinforcement learning, and natural language preprocessing technologies to minimize human intervention in the dataset construction. Also, it can be applied to various heterogeneous facilities with different interfaces. Thanks to the proposed data extraction pipeline, the proposed chatbot interacts with users intuitively using conversational language, replacing cumbersome manipulation and unusable documentation. In the paper, one of the equipment, commonly used in the real world, is chosen to be applied the proposed system to the chosen facility, dealing with possible problems during the operation.

J Park, J Son, S Cho, J Um

IEEE Access

‘공작기계의 두뇌’, CNC 국산화 첨병! 국내 산·학·연 CNC 원천기술 전초기지, 한국기계연구원이 디지털 제조(Digital Manufacturing) 앞당긴다

한국기계연구원은 4월 1일부터 5일까지 한국공작기계산업협회 주최로 일산 킨텍스에서 개최되는 생산제조기술전시회 'SIMTOS 2024'에 역대 최대 규모로 참가해 국내에서 개발한 공작기계용 CNC시스템을 대거 선보였습니다.

한국기계연구원 KIMM

한국기계연구원 Youtube Channel

Platform Supporting Intelligent Human–Machine Interface (HMI) Applications for Smart Machine Tools

As the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and the fourth industrial revolution advance, smart factories and machines increasingly gain intelligent features that enable the integration of more sophisticated functionalities. Approaches to achieving this intelligence involve both internal systems, such as human–machine interface (HMI), and external systems, such as big data platforms and cloud services. Although current research leans toward studying external systems, accomplishing intelligent functions through such means poses more challenges in achieving real-time responses during machining processes than using internal systems. When intellectualizing machine tools through internal HMI systems, three critical issues must be addressed. First, HMI functions are structured to depend on the HMI itself, leading to a ripple effect where a problem occurring in one HMI function impacts the entire system. Second, owing to differences in development tools and programming languages, the interconnectivity between functions developed by multiple stakeholders to be loaded onto the HMI may suffer, leading to potential inefficiencies and increased maintenance costs. Third, although various types of computer numerical control (CNC) machines need to communicate with the HMI function, the diverse communication methods and development tools used by each CNC manufacturer result in identical intelligent functions being developed separately for each CNC type. To address these challenges, this study proposes an innovative HMI platform capable of executing and developing various intelligent functions. The HMI platform and its major components are designed and implemented through component-based development (CBD). Subsequently, the performance and effectiveness of the platform are validated using quality attribute scenarios.

IH Park, JS Yoon, JH Sohn, DY Lee

International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing

Low-cost construction of digital twins using administration asset shell in augmented reality guide service for machine tool operators

The recent necessity of digital twins for various applications such as monitoring and data analysis of machine tools has prompted active research on adaptive system integration using Administration Asset Shell. In particular, Augmented Reality is effectively utilized in various applications, such as worker training and monitoring of multiple devices, by combining the physical components of the manufacturing site and digital elements into an intuitive and unified interface. However, the cost of constructing and maintaining the content of virtual reality is high, preventing its practical introduction in small and medium-sized enterprises. This is because each applications is accompanied by re-programming and re-design such as interface codes and instruction items. This paper proposes an approach to construct and manage a digital twin for augmented reality using neutral data representation which is Administration Asset Shell. This allows for less updates and small modifications when new application is added with relative low cost than legacy method.The comparison conducted with two applications for three different machine tools. Using the proposed method, we were able to confirm the reduction of programming work at the initial construction and the application of environmental changes without reprogramming. This is expected to be particularly useful in heterogeneous multi-vendor equipment operation environments of small and medium-sized enterprises with different interfaces and operating methods.

YD Kim, JH Moon, JS Park, EY Kim, SS Kim, J Um

Low-Cost Digital Solutions for Industrial Automation

OPC UA-Based Machining Cell Monitoring System for Multi-Vendors’ Machine Tools and Industrial Robots

Monitoring systems for the manufacturing field are essential. These systems have various architectures and scales to meet more diverse requirements depending on their purpose. However, communication is commonly fundamental for all monitoring systems. This paper proposes a structure for a machining cell monitoring system that is composed of machine tools and industrial robots. The system adapts OPC UA for collecting data and MQTT for publishing data. The unique aspect of the suggested monitoring system is that it creates OPC UA data nodes dynamically according to the requests of the clients and it is applicable to any CNCs. The collected data from a machine tool and an industrial robot were chosen considering preventive maintenance. The proposed method was implemented to a machining cell and the developed dashboard shows that the selected data were successfully stored and queried.

JS Yoon, YD Kim, J Lee, DY Lee

International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Smart Technology

Development of Unified Interface for Multi-Vendors' CNC Based on Machine State Model

The Human Machine Interface (HMI) is dependent on the Computerized Numerical Control (CNC). As a result, the HMI software is developed according to the interface method of each CNC in duplicate. Even though the same function of HMI software module is developed using the same data item, it must be implemented separately in different development environments. This is because each CNC has a different address system and provides unique data interface method. In this study, we proposed a unified interface system that can standardize and integrate data interface method to support the development of HMI software module applicable to machine tools adopting multi-vendors’ CNCs. To clearly define this work, we developed new parameters, methods, and address system based on the machine state model, composed of data elements of machine tool structure, process, and status, provides the same interface by capsulizing existing CNC interfaces. The proposed interface system is designed to provide an API (Application Programming Interface) in the form of a library. The implementation architecture is designed and details of the operating logic within the detailed components and interfaces are elaborated. The implementation and test results are illustrated to verify an application example of the proposed unified interface system.

윤주성, 박일하, 손진호, 김헌정

Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering