Design and Application of a Digital Twin System for Mobile Robot Ranging Sensors

The complex working environment may cause irreversible damage to sensors of robots. Constructing virtual sensor and working environment based on digital twin can reduce hardware damage and reduce production cost. Based on the architecture design of digital twinning system for ranging sensors, this paper conducts digital twinning modeling for ultrasonic and infrared ranging sensors, and investigates the application value of the digital twinning system. The motion environment, sensor reading module and motion control module in the physical world, as well as the motion environment, virtual sensor model program and motion control code in the virtual world are analyzed, and a complete digital twin operating environment is constructed. Different types of objects are selected to test the characteristics of the sensor, and main factors affecting the readings of the ultrasonic and infrared ranging sensors are determined. Then, the digital twin sensor is designed, and distance reading curves similar to those in reality can be obtained. Finally, the proposed ranging digital twin system is applied to the QBot3 mobile robot, the site is built in the real world, while the corresponding scene model is established based on QLab in the virtual world; and the stability and reliability of the system are tested.