Digital twin driven human–robot collaborative assembly

Abstract This paper discusses an object-oriented event-driven simulation as a digital twin of a flexible assembly cell coordinated with a robot to perform assembly tasks alongside human. The digital twin extends the use of virtual simulation models developed in the design phase of a production system to operations for real-time control, dynamic skill-based tasks allocation between human and robot, sequencing of tasks and developing robot program accordingly. The methodology combines lean methods of manual assembly in human–robot collaboration paving path towards flexible human–robot work teams. The study is validated with an industrial case study involving dexterous assembly tasks.