Design and implementation of a digital twin for a stone-cutting machine: a case study

The use of digital twins in the development and management of stone-cutting devices presents real challenges in the field of industrial stone manufacturing. Digital twins help manufacturers achieve increased precision, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, ultimately transforming the landscape of stone manufacturing operations. Such digital twins enable real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and virtual simulations. This paper explores two options for connecting a physical stone-cutting machine in a company to its digital twin. The first option involves using Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and a Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) broker to enable real-time data exchange. This approach provides agile and efficient communication between the physical machine and its digital twin. The second option employs conventional automation devices and a VPN connection to ensure data security during transmission. The two options were evaluated by considering criteria such as communication speed, security, scalability, ease of implementation, cost, complexity, and technical requirements. The results of the comparative analysis provide valuable insights for the implementation of the digital twin of the stone-cutting machine, allowing the selection of the most suitable option based on these considerations. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0)