Digital Twin Upgrading Existing Machines for Retrofit

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How can existing machines be modernized without a digital representation so that they can be used as simulation-capable digital twins and integrated into new production facilities? This question is now the focus of a new collaborative project.

The term retrofit generally refers to the modernization and upgrading of existing facilities and equipment. The increasing digitalization and transition to Industry 4.0 often make it essential to adapt the existing machinery fleet. Many older production systems only have heterogeneous and unstructured engineering data, which are currently hardly integrable into digital planning and simulation tools.

Goal: Simulation-Capable Digital Twins of Existing Systems

With the launch of the Green Retro Twin project, a research consortium is now working on the digitalization of existing machines. The IPI – Institute for Production and Informatics in Sonthofen (Germany) is developing approaches using generative and agent-based AI to unify, structure, and transform this data into simulation-capable digital twins.

The core of the approach is a combination of mapping techniques and LLM-supported methods. This allows inconsistent legacy data from sources such as control documentation to be automatically integrated into standardized formats like the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Additionally, the AI-based methods ensure that digital models are continuously adjusted to reflect the real machine behavior.

With our approach, we are creating a digital foundation to reuse existing machines economically and sustainably. This is a key building block for a functioning industrial circular economy

Project Manager Prof. Bernd Lüdemann-Ravit

Practical Methodology Facilitates Access to Digital Retrofit Technologies for SMEs

The developed solutions are integrated into existing data and simulation platforms and validated with real machine data throughout the project. This creates a practical methodology that particularly eases access to digital retrofit technologies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The initiative contributes to the goals of the "Greentech Innovation Competition – Digital Technologies as Leverage for the Circular Economy": By digitally upgrading existing machines, resources are conserved, energy is saved, and the need for new production is reduced. At the same time, the project strengthens the competitiveness of the machinery and equipment manufacturing sector.

About the Project

The research consortium includes, in addition to the IPI – Institute for Production and Informatics, ISG Industrielle Steuerungstechnik GmbH, Grob-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, and the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Production Systems (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart.The German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) is funding the sub-project of Kempten University for three years with approximately 365,000 euros (approx. USD 421,000).