Offline and Online Energy Simulation using Virtual Commissioning Models with Extended Dynamical Behavior

Abstract

Considering energy consumption and dynamical behavior within the simulation of manufacturing systems emerges as an important objective for their development, commissioning, and operation. Currently, these aspects are often neglected in many fields including virtual commissioning. This work presents an approach to extend highly detailed virtual commissioning models of components from industrial automation by dynamics models for the calculation of energy consumption in an offline simulation and for reuse in an online simulation. To validate the presented approach, an exemplary offline virtual commissioning simulation of a pick-and-place robot application is implemented and subsequently transferred to an online simulation. The validation shows a good accuracy of the simulated energy consumption, enabling virtual commissioning engineers to analyze and optimize energy consumption already in the design phase of manufacturing systems. Additionally, the dynamical behavior was well reflected in the online simulation, contributing to the capability of simulation in the operation phase.