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Industrial Metauniverse: Looking Forward To The Future Of Intelligent Manufacturing

2022/3/28 18:57:00 0

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CCID Consulting Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center believes that the transformation of meta universe from concept to application still needs continuous attempts by enterprises and scientific research institutions to promote the continuous iteration and updating of basic technologies and key equipment, and explore more application scenarios. In particular, the application of meta universe related technology in the industrial field will enable all scenarios of the industrial product life cycle, and can effectively promote the intelligent upgrading of the industrial field, and its application value will be far greater than that in the consumption field.

On February 4, 2022, the share price of meta company with a comprehensive layout of "meta universe" fell by 26% on the day of disclosure of financial information, setting the largest market value decline in the history of the US stock market, with the market value falling by more than 237 billion US dollars; On February 16, roblox, the first stock in the yuan universe, released its financial report. After the next day's trading, its stock price fell by 15%, and its market value shrank by about 50 billion US dollars. In the past year, the capital market for the concept of the meta universe from hot to calm, investors also realize that there is a big gap between the concept of the meta universe and the reality. CCID Consulting Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center believes that the transformation of meta universe from concept to application still needs continuous attempts by enterprises and scientific research institutions to promote the continuous iteration and updating of basic technologies and key equipment, and explore more application scenarios. In particular, the application of meta universe related technology in the industrial field will enable all scenarios of the industrial product life cycle, and can effectively promote the intelligent upgrading of the industrial field, and its application value will be far greater than that in the consumption field.

1、 "Virtual reality coordination" of industrial meta universe is the future form of intelligent manufacturing

（1） How to understand the industrial metauniverse?

Industrial metauniverse refers to the application of meta universe related technologies in the industrial field. The R & D and design, production and manufacturing, marketing and sales, after-sales service and other links and scenes in the real industrial environment can be fully deployed in the virtual space. Through the virtual space and the real space, the industrial improvement and optimization can be realized, and a new manufacturing and service system can be formed, so as to reduce the cost, reduce the cost and improve the service quality Improve production efficiency, high efficiency and synergy effect, and promote the high-quality development of industry.

（2） Industrial meta universe "from virtual to real" to realize "virtual real coordination"

The industrial meta universe is similar to the concept of "digital twin". The difference between the two is that digital twin is a 1:1 mapping from the real world to the virtual world. The industrial production in the real world is simulated by controlling the production process and production equipment in the virtual world; The industrial meta universe has a broader imagination than the digital twin. The virtual world reflected by the industrial meta universe not only has the mapping of the real world, but also has the experience and interaction that has not been realized or even can not be realized in the real world. In addition, the industrial meta universe pays more attention to the collaborative interaction between virtual space and real space, so as to realize virtual operation and guide real industry.

（3） Industrial universe helps intelligent manufacturing upgrade

Intelligent manufacturing, based on the deep integration of new generation information technology and advanced manufacturing technology, runs through all aspects of manufacturing activities such as design, production, management and service, and is a new production mode committed to promoting the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry in terms of digitalization, networking and intellectualization. The industrial meta universe is more like the future form of intelligent manufacturing. It takes promoting the linkage between virtual space and real space as the main means, and emphasizes mapping and expanding the operations that can be realized by the real industry in the virtual space. It guides the efficient operation of the real industry through the collaborative work and simulation operation in the virtual space, and enables all aspects and scenes of the industry, so that industrial enterprises can achieve the goal of reducing costs, expanding the operation of the real industry The purpose of improving production efficiency is to promote the efficient cooperation within and between enterprises, to promote the high-quality development of industry, and to realize the further upgrading of intelligent manufacturing.

2、 Looking forward to the future, the application scenarios of industrial metauniverse will cover the whole life cycle of products

At present, most cases of industrial meta universe are more close to the application of "digital twin" technology. Looking forward to the future, the application scenarios of industrial meta universe will cover the whole life cycle of products from R & D to after-sales service, and guide and promote industrial process optimization and efficiency improvement from "virtual" to "real". From the aspects of R & D design, production optimization, equipment operation and maintenance, product testing, skill training and other aspects, the paper looks forward to the possible application scenarios of the industrial universe.

Figure 1: Industrial scenario of industrial metauniverse enabling

Source: CCID consultants, 2022, 03

（1） R & D design

Compared with the current stage of using industrial software for product design, R & D design under the application of industrial meta universe technology will improve product development efficiency and reduce product development cost to a greater extent. In terms of product design, the environmental factors of product application can be controlled through the industrial meta universe platform, and based on the product model designed in the industrial meta universe platform, the action mode of various parts of the product can be intuitively and accurately simulated, which can effectively verify the product performance. In terms of collaborative design, the industrial meta universe can break through the geographical restrictions and support multi-party collaborative design. Users can also participate in product design and experience the products they design on the platform of industrial meta universe. In terms of user experience, the product R & D on the industrial meta universe platform is closer to user needs and can enhance the user experience to a greater extent through the deep participation of users.

（2） Production optimization

Through the industrial meta universe platform, we can immersively experience the construction and operation process of the virtual intelligent factory, and interact with the equipment and production line in the virtual intelligent factory in real time, which can optimize the production process and carry out intelligent production scheduling more intuitively and conveniently. In the early stage of intelligent factory construction, the industrial meta universe platform can be used to build a virtual intelligent factory which is consistent with the building structure, production line layout, production process and equipment structure of the real intelligent factory, so as to realize the rationality verification of the capacity configuration, equipment structure, personnel movement line and other aspects in advance. Any change in the production process of intelligent factory can be simulated in the virtual intelligent factory to predict the production status and optimize the production process. For example, BMW and NVIDIA are cooperating on virtual factories. BMW introduces Omniverse platform to coordinate the production of 31 factories, which is expected to improve the efficiency of BMW's production planning by 30%.

（3） Equipment operation and maintenance

Compared with the predictive maintenance using big data analysis at the present stage, the equipment operation and maintenance based on industrial meta universe can break the space limitation and effectively improve the response efficiency and service quality of equipment operation and maintenance. In the virtual space established by the industrial universe platform, the operation and maintenance personnel will not be limited by the region, and when the production equipment has problems, they can realize remote real-time confirmation of equipment conditions and timely repair problems. For difficult and complex equipment problems, experts from all over the world can be gathered through the industrial universe platform to discuss solutions, so as to improve production efficiency.

（4） Product testing

For products with high application standards and complex testing requirements, the industrial metauniverse can provide virtual environment to carry out test verification and product performance testing. Through the combination of virtual and real, the synchronous testing of physical space and virtual space can be realized, and the internal and external changes of products can be more intuitively felt, and the efficiency and accuracy of testing and certification can be improved. For example, compared with the civilian consumer chip products, the vehicle specification level AI chip has complex functional design due to the changeable working environment and high security requirements. Its R & D, testing and certification process is very strict, which needs to meet a number of international and domestic industry standards. The industrial universe can provide virtual test space for vehicle specification level AI chips. Engineers can test vehicle gauge AI chips at a lower cost, and can also simulate and experience autonomous vehicles equipped with AI chips, so as to improve the testing and certification efficiency of vehicle gauge AI chips.

（5） Skill training

Industrial meta universe can effectively improve the efficiency of teaching and training, provide virtual equipment for colleges and universities, enterprises and other organizations to train students and employees' professional skills, so that students can operate production equipment more intuitively. At the same time, for extreme special cases such as earthquake and fire, virtual space can be built through the industrial universe platform for relevant personnel to exercise escape routes and test accident handling methods.

3、 Building a solid foundation to meet the arrival of the era of "industrial meta universe"

The industrial meta universe creates the interactive development of the real world and the virtual world, showing the form of virtual and real integration and mutual influence. It needs strong computing power, network and other basic technologies as the base, and also needs powerful chips, sensors, optical lenses, VR / AR devices and other hardware equipment to support the imagination and development of the industrial meta universe. In order to promote the industrial meta universe from concept implementation to application, further research and construction are needed. As for the industrial meta universe, we propose that the government and enterprises can lay out and develop the relevant technologies of the industrial meta universe, and do not over hype the concept, so as to avoid the "bubble" caused by the weak foundation.

On the one hand, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as digitization and computing power, and strengthen the research on basic technologies such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence. First, we will continue to promote the construction of digital infrastructure, promote the deployment and application of "dual Gigabit" networks, support industrial enterprises to use new network technologies and advanced and applicable technologies to transform and build enterprise networks, and provide high bandwidth, low delay, and high reliable network access capabilities for the industrial meta universe. The second is to accelerate the construction of data centers, carry out the action of enhancing computing power, further open up network transmission channels between national hub nodes, accelerate the implementation of the "east to west" project, and improve the level of cross regional computing power scheduling. Third, encourage universities, scientific research institutes, enterprises and other organizations to promote cloud computing, big data and other technical research, and accelerate the transformation process of industrial meta universe.

On the other hand, we should strengthen the R & D and application of VR / AR and other related hardware equipment, and promote the technical upgrading of optical lens, display panel, master chip, sensor, memory and other key equipment. The first is to promote the action of "unveiling and leading" key core technologies, set up special research topics for core technologies and tools and equipment research and development such as chips, sensors, memories, and so on, and "unveil the list and take the lead" for organizations such as colleges and universities, scientific research institutes and enterprises, and call on competent organizations to carry out independent R & D or joint research around weak links. Second, accelerate the development of modeling and simulation industrial software, support the enterprises with foundation to continuously develop and improve the R & D design industrial software, encourage social capital and industrial funds to support the development of R & D and design industrial software in China, narrow the gap between China's R & D and design industrial software and foreign countries, accelerate the completion of short boards, and lay a foundation for the meta universe enabling industry.