Siemens product certified using digital twins

Siemens, in collaboration with UL Solutions, which operates in the field of applied safety science, has certified an industrial product for the United States through simulation using digital twins. According to the companies, this is an unprecedented achievement worldwide and the result of the precision and reliability of this technology that can help boost the industrial metaverse and thus speed up product development, innovation, and the time needed to bring new products to market.

Traditionally, certification requires exhaustive physical tests, often subjecting a single product to a battery of evaluations. On the other hand, the simulation using digital twins proposed by Siemens and UL Solutions for the certification process is a paradigm shift. UL Solutions used a digital twin of Siemens’ new SINAMICS G220 variable frequency drives to carry out the necessary temperature rise tests. The digital twin was verified and validated by UL Solutions. The overall certification process seamlessly integrated digital modelling and simulation with traditional physical testing.

“Siemens digital twins technology is rewriting the rules of innovation. This collaborative effort with UL Solutions is a testament to our dedication to a future where innovation knows no bounds. It invites industries and innovators alike to explore the limitless possibilities that digital twins offer to shape the future of product development,” says Cedrik Neike, member of the Board of Management of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries.

This was UL Solutions’ first certification using a digital product model and, in the company’s view, this process has far-reaching implications for product innovation and speed to market. “This first certification represents a tremendous milestone in the testing, inspection and certification segment and also for our customers around the world,” says Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO of UL Solutions. She points out that digital modelling and simulation have enormous potential to shape the future of product development and certification. “These services can help reduce time to market and product lifecycle costs, as well as increasing the accuracy of technical information on safety, performance, and quality that drives innovation,” she adds.

Modelling and simulation services provide added value, especially for modular projects and products that consist of many design variations. “This added value can be achieved through fewer prototypes and the effort to physically test them, as well as the reduced risk of delays in market launch due to non-compliance at the end of the development process,” explains Weifang Zhou, executive vice president and director of testing, inspection and certification at UL Solutions.

Industrial metaverse and AI

During this year’s CES event in Las Vegas (USA), Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens, emphasised that 2024 will see the industrial metaverse take a giant step forward. For Siemens, the main building blocks of the industrial metaverse are already in place: digital twins, software-defined automation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).”With Generative AI and the industrial metaverse, we can all accelerate innovation and sustainability initiatives, as well as access to technology. And that’s what the world needs right now. Speed and scale to solve the big challenges,” says Busch.

In the industrial metaverse, digital twins can simulate processes to make optimisations that save time and reduce waste, before making any changes in the real world. It’s even possible to go back in time and find the moment a problem arose in order to correct it, or even delegate the task to an AI co-pilot.

The industrial metaverse can also be used to find solutions in the digital world more quickly and then implement them in the real world. This will be done through software-defined automation and, in particular, using the Internet of Things and virtual Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). According to Siemens, this is already being done by car manufacturer Audi, which uses virtual PLCs in one of its factories.

And Generative AI enables new ways of interacting with machines and digital twins. One example is Siemens Industrial CoPilot, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, which allows machines to be operated and programmed using natural language and will serve as a virtual assistant in the industrial metaverse. Siemens also announced earlier this year a co-operation initiative with AWS to simplify the development of AI applications and make them accessible to a wider audience, including those without extensive programming experience.