Digital twins
Important
The use of a digital twin is only possible on a Windows desktop or laptop! We do not support MacOS.
Overview video
A digital twin allows you to test and validate controllers of the Festo MPS Workstations to full extent in a virtual environment. Have a look at the videos below for a first impression. The videos can help you in selecting a Festo workstation for the midterm assignment, for which you should subscribe in Canvas, see Canvas > People > Project.
Downloads
Digital twin programs
Updated digital twins:
dt-distributing-handling-oct-2022.exe(version 3 October 2022)dt-testing-buffering-oct-2022.exe(version 3 October 2022)dt-processing-oct-2022.exe(version 3 October 2022)dt-sorting-oct-2022.exe(version 3 October 2022)
After executing the program for the first time, Windows Defender might show the following message:
Choose More info and Run anyway.
TwinCAT template
See the TwinCAT digital twin page for information how to use this template.
Example videos
The videos below show four digital twins, controlled by CIF controllers that were designed by student teams in previous years of the 4TC00 course.
Note: These videos are examples, those controllers are not perfect.
Distributing and Handling
Testing and Buffering
Processing
Sorting
Operator manual: general
Starting the digital twin program
After starting the executable of the digital twin, the main menu appears, which is shown here:
Main menu of workstation 1.
The digital twin can be started by pressing the Start button. The quality of the graphics in the digital twin software can be changed in the dropdown menu next to (Quality). This setting can be used when the digital twin is too demanding for your laptop. Finally, the program can be closed by pressing the Quit button.
When the digital twin is running, a ‘pause’ button ( || ) is located in the right upper corner of the window. Clicking on this button opens the pause menu in the middle of the screen:
The pause menu in the digital twin program.
Here, the main menu can be opened, the scene can be reloaded or the menu can be closed by clicking Continue. Reloading the scene can be useful when the digital twin stops working correctly. Make sure to first stop the controller before reloading the digital twin to prevent errors from occurring.
Controlling the camera
To give the users some freedom in what they want to look at, different camera position are avaiable to choose from. Select your preferred position from one of the numbered buttons. Move to the previous or next camera with the arrow buttons.
UI buttons for the camera system.
It is also possible to slect a camera via keyboard/numpad buttons 1, 2, 3, etc. Use left and righ arrow or A/D to move between the avaiable camera positions.
Interacting with the digital twin
This section describes how to interact with the digital twin. A brief overview of the interactive buttons/switches is given in the table below. You can control the user interface with your keyboard. Keep in mind that if your station has two control panels, the start, stop, reset and switch buttons of both workstations are activated with a single keyboard action (see table below for keybindings).
Interaction |
Left Mouse Button |
Right Mouse Button |
Keyboard Button |
|---|---|---|---|
Start button |
Pushes |
Toggles |
Return (pushes) |
Stop button |
Pushes |
Toggles |
Backspace (pushes) |
Reset button |
Pushes |
Toggles |
Right Shift (pushes) |
Autoswitch |
Toggles |
N/A |
Right Control (toggles) |
Manual mode buttons |
Pushes |
Toggles |
N/A |
s_testingbusy, s_processingbusy, s_sortingbusy button |
Toggles |
N/A |
N/A |
Product |
Rotates (Festo 3 only) |
Removes |
N/A |
User interface
The buttons and LEDs allow a user to interact with the digital twin. All six stations share the same user interface. As a user, you can use the start button, stop button, the reset button, and the autoswitch. These can be activated by left-clicking them. You can also toggle the buttons by right-clicking button. The autoswitch toggles its state when clicked with the left mouse button. All buttons and the switch light up when they are active.
Left-clicking and right-clicking to activate the user interface buttons and switch.
Manual mode
In some cases, you need to activate an actuator which is not controlled by your controller. This can be useful during the midterm assignment to move a product to the right spot before starting your controller for example. To manually activate actuators, left-click or right-click on the manual mode buttons as seen below. Left-clicking activates the actuators as long as the left mouse button is held down. Right-clicking toggles the actuator. This allows you to activate multiple actuators at the same time.
Activating actuators with the manual mode buttons.
Changing the downstream communication
Each workstation (except for ‘Sorting’) is equipped with a sensor to read the status of the downstream workstation (s_[?]busy). This sensor is active by default. In the digital twin, you can change the status of the sensor to your preference. To change the status, left-click on the LED as shown below.
This feature only works when the downstream station is not present in your digital twin (e.g. for ‘Distributing and Testing’ this does not work).
Changing the status of the downstream sensor.
Removing and flipping products
Removing a product is possible throughout the entire Festo MPS line. Right-click on a product, and it will be removed from the digital twin.
For the Processing Station, an extra feature is implemented. This is rotating a product upside down. Use your left mouse button to flip a product (up -> down and down -> up).
Removing and rotating a product.
Operator manual: workstation specific information
Products can be spawned on the workstation using the product spawning menu that can be accessed by clicking the > button in the top left of the screen as shown on the left side of the figure below. This unfolds the menu shown on the right in the figure below. The menu can be hidden again by clicking the < button.
Product spawning menu closed (left) and opened (right).
The buttons of the product spawning menu have the following functionality.
Color Cycle between the possible product color settings in the order red -> silver -> black -> cycling -> (-> red -> …).
Preview image The preview image on the top right displays the current product settings.
Show spawn points Toggle visibility of the product spawn points, shown in the figure below, as transparent green products.
Spawn points: at the three product stacks and at the product drop-off.
Fill stacks Fill the three product stacks according to the final assignment. This means that the first stack is filled with red products and the other two stacks are filled with silver products.
Delete all Delete all products from the workstation.
Manual mode: This is the default mode. To use manual mode, first the product spawn points must be made visible by clicking the Show spawn points button. By clicking one of the green transparent products, a product is spawned at the selected location. The characteristics of the product are as defined by the first two buttons and the associated preview image in the product spawning menu. When a product is already present close to the spawn point, no other product can be spawned.
Note
Manual movement manipulator
It is a very tricky task to slide the manipulator exactly above one of the stacks or the drop-off point with the manual mode buttons. To make life easier, four clickable blue sensor buttons are available. By clicking one of these sensors, the manipulator moves exactly towards the indicated point. See the video below for a demonstration.
Products can be spawned on the workstation using the product spawning menu that can be accessed by clicking the > button in the top left of the screen as shown on the left side of the figure below. This unfolds the menu shown on the right in the figure below. The menu can be hidden again by clicking the < button.
Product spawning menu closed (left) and opened (right).
The buttons of the product spawning menu have the following functionality.
Color Cycle between the possible product color settings in the order red -> silver -> black -> cycling -> (-> red -> …).
Size Cycle between the three possible product heights in the order normal -> large -> cycling -> small (-> normal -> …).
Preview image The preview image to the right of first two buttons displays the current product size and orientation settings.
Show spawn points Toggle visibility of the product spawn points, shown in the figure below, as transparent green products.
Spawn points: at the vacuum cylinder, at the lowered lift and on the air slide.
Delete all products Delete all products from the workstation.
Mode: manual Opens a dropdown menu to select one of three timing modes for product spawning:
Manual mode: This is the default mode. To use manual mode, first the product spawn points must be made visible by clicking the Show spawn points button. By clicking one of the green transparent products, a product is spawned at the selected location. The characteristics of the product are as defined by the first two buttons and the associated preview image in the product spawning menu. When a product is already present close to the spawn point, no other product can be spawned.
Note also, that when the transfer cylinder is moving, the first spawn point is disabled, and when the lift is up or the pusher is activated, no product can be spawned at the spawn location on the lift.
Instantaneous timing mode: Products are spawned automatically with the chosen product specification as soon as this is possible. This means that products are spawned instantaneously when a spawn point is empty.
Interval timing mode: When this mode is chosen, two sliders show up below the spawning menu. Here, a time interval can be set between 0.5 and 10 seconds. After a product spawns, a timer duration is sampled uniformly from this interval. When this timer runs out, a new product is spawned and this process restarts.
Products can be spawned on the workstation using the product spawning menu that can be accessed by clicking the > button in the top left of the screen as shown on the left side of the figure below. This unfolds the menu shown on the right in the figure below. The menu can be hidden again by clicking the < button.
Product spawning menu closed (left) and opened (right).
The buttons of the product spawning menu have the following functionality.
Color Cycle between the possible product color settings in the order red -> silver -> black -> cycling -> (-> red -> …).
Orientation Cycle between the possible product orientation settings in the order up -> down -> cycling -> (-> up -> …).
Preview image The preview image on the top right displays the current product settings.
Show spawn points Toggle visibility of the product spawn points, shown in the figure below, as transparent green products.
Spawn points: at the start of the conveyor belt and at the six product locations on the turntable.
Delete all products Delete all products from the workstation.
Mode: manual Opens a dropdown menu to select one of three timing modes for product spawning:
Manual mode: This is the default mode. To use manual mode, first the product spawn points must be made visible by clicking the Show spawn points button. By clicking one of the green transparent products, a product is spawned at the selected location. The characteristics of the product are as defined by the first two buttons and the associated preview image in the product spawning menu. When a product is already present close to the spawn point, no other product can be spawned.
Instantaneous timing mode: Products are spawned automatically with the chosen product specification as soon as this is possible. This means that products are spawned instantaneously when a spawn point is empty.
Interval timing mode: When this mode is chosen, two sliders show up below the spawning menu. Here, a time interval can be set between 0.5 and 10 seconds. After a product spawns, a timer duration is sampled uniformly from this interval. When this timer runs out, a new product is spawned and this process restarts.
Products can be spawned on the workstation using the product spawning menu that can be accessed by clicking the > button in the top left of the screen as shown on the left side of the figure below. This unfolds the menu shown on the right in the figure below. The menu can be hidden again by clicking the < button.
Product spawning menu closed (left) and opened (right).
The buttons of the product spawning menu have the following functionality.
Color Cycle between the possible product color settings in the order red -> silver -> black -> cycling -> (-> red -> …).
Preview image The preview image on the top right displays the current product settings.
Show spawn points Toggle visibility of the product spawn points, shown in the figure below, as transparent green products.
Spawn points: at the final turntable position, and at the start of the conveyer.
Delete all products Delete all products from the workstation.
Mode: manual Opens a dropdown menu to select one of three timing modes for product spawning:
Manual mode: This is the default mode. To use manual mode, first the product spawn points must be made visible by clicking the Show spawn points button. By clicking one of the green transparent products, a product is spawned at the selected location. The characteristics of the product are as defined by the first two buttons and the associated preview image in the product spawning menu. When a product is already present close to the spawn point, no other product can be spawned.
Instantaneous timing mode: Products are spawned automatically with the chosen product specification as soon as this is possible. This means that products are spawned instantaneously when a spawn point is empty.
Interval timing mode: When this mode is chosen, two sliders show up below the spawning menu. Here, a time interval can be set between 0.5 and 10 seconds. After a product spawns, a timer duration is sampled uniformly from this interval. When this timer runs out, a new product is spawned and this process restarts.
Note
Questions can be asked via the appropriate channels in Teams. Please use email only for private issues.