Industrial robot simulation manufacturing based on big data and virtual reality technology

The intelligent production line is generally composed of industrial robot workstations or multiple workstations, with complex process, large equipment investment, and difficult on-site debugging. In order to solve the problem of difficult on-site debugging, virtual simulation debugging technology has been gradually applied to the debugging of industrial robot workstations and intelligent production lines. In order to improve the debugging efficiency and safety of the industrial robot workstation, taking the industrial robot simulation assembly workstation as an example, the authors propose a virtual simulation debugging method based on the simulation software OCTOPUZ for the industrial robot workstation and Siemens programmable logic controller (PLC). We created an OCTOPUZ simulation model for an industrial robot workstation using SolidWorks and completed offline programming and PLC programming of the industrial robot in a personal computer based on the workstation's task flow. In response to the problem of information exchange between simulation software OCTOPUZ and PLC during the simulation of industrial robot workstations, OLE for process control technology is adopted, with PLC as the server and OCTOPUZ as the client, in order to achieve real-time interaction of control signals between PLC and simulation software OCTOPUZ; thus, the virtual simulation joint debugging of PLC and industrial robot workstation was completed. The effectiveness of the virtual debugging scheme of industrial robot workstation and the correctness of industrial robot program and PLC program are verified. In practice, the simulation debugging before the equipment construction can find and solve the program problems in advance, and improve the efficiency of the workstation design programming and debugging. Through simulation, problems in the design of industrial robot control programs, PLC control programs, and other electromechanical components during workstation assembly can be identified and solved in advance, saving the cost of actual equipment debugging, thus improving the debugging efficiency and safety of actual equipment. © 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter.