Towards Safety-Based Digital Twins: A New Approach of Dynamic Safety-Related Database Structure

The field of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) within Industry 4.0 is shifting towards digitalization, particularly through the adoption of digital twin technology. This advancement aims to enhance the flexibility of HRC solutions while prioritizing safety measures to ensure the safety of humans. Achieving a solution that is both flexible and safe relies heavily on the design and structure of its back-end. This work focuses on developing a flexible and expandable structure for a digital twin database, which serves as a core support component. Furthermore, the database structure takes into account the entire life cycle of the machine. The primary goal is to contribute to the creation of a safe digital twin specifically for HRC applications. The proposed databse structure integrates elements such as hazards, environmental characteristics, safety functions, and sensor models. This comprehensive approach addresses the diverse challenges posed by different scenarios, ensuring that the digital twin remains a robust and safe solution throughout the machine's life cycle. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, an industrial use case is conducted. The results demonstrate the flexibility of the solution, effectively addressing multiple hazards and accommodating various sensor models. This not only highlights the flexibility of the digital twins database structure approach but also highlights its practical application in real-world industrial environments.