Digital Twin Excursion Control for Adaptive Manufacturing Recipes

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional process control systems fail to effectively detect and respond to process excursions, leading to product waste, manufacturing downtime, and equipment damage due to their inability to adaptively manage variations in raw materials and tool wear, relying on static recipes and methods like PID control.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a cyber-physical system (CPS) that utilizes a digital twin to monitor and adjust manufacturing processes in real-time, employing an excursion manager and process adjustment analyzer to detect deviations, generate fingerprints for pattern recognition, and dynamically adjust recipes to prevent excursions through preventative maintenance and process modifications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If traditional PID control and static recipes are used, then system simplicity is maintained, but the system cannot adapt to variations in raw materials and tool wear, leading to process excursions and product waste

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to material variationsVSAvoidcontrol system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by detecting process excursions early through sensor monitoring and digital twin comparison, identifying sensor patterns and temporal characteristics before they lead to product defects. This allows preventive maintenance to be scheduled in advance, adapting to tool wear and material variations before they cause failures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements continuous feedback by comparing real-time sensor data against the digital twin model, analyzing sensor type patterns and temporal patterns, and automatically adjusting process parameters. This closed-loop feedback enables the system to adapt to variations in raw materials and tool conditions, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If real-time monitoring and digital twin comparison are implemented, then early detection of excursions is achieved, but computational requirements and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveexcursion detection reliabilityVSAvoidmonitoring system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a digital twin - a virtual copy of the physical manufacturing process - and compares real-time sensor data against this digital model. This copying approach enables reliable excursion detection by identifying deviations from expected behavior without requiring complex physical monitoring infrastructure, as the digital twin serves as a reference model for comparison.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The digital twin acts as an intermediary between raw sensor data and excursion detection decisions. Instead of directly analyzing complex sensor streams, the system compares sensor readings against the digital twin model, using the digital representation as a mediator to simplify the detection process while maintaining high reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Manufacturing precision

If continuous process monitoring and adaptive control are implemented, then product quality is improved, but manufacturing time and processing overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduct quality consistencyVSAvoidmanufacturing cycle time

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial action by focusing monitoring and analysis efforts only when excursions are detected. Instead of continuously adjusting all process parameters, the system identifies specific sensor patterns and temporal characteristics that indicate problems, then applies targeted corrections only to affected processes, maintaining quality while minimizing interference with normal manufacturing flow.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

4Productivity

If tools are used for extended manufacturing iterations, then productivity is maintained, but tool efficacy degrades leading to process excursions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing outputVSAvoidtool performance stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary maintenance actions by detecting tool performance degradation patterns through sensor analysis before tools fail. By identifying temporal patterns in sensor data and comparing against the digital twin, the system schedules preventive maintenance during planned downtime rather than waiting for tool failure, maintaining both productivity and reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11755689B2Methods, systems, articles of manufacture and apparatus to manage process excursions

Publication Date: 2023.09.12 INTEL CORP

AI summary

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to manage process excursions. An example apparatus includes a digital twin comparer to determine when a product fails to satisfy a tolerance metric of a digital twin, and a fingerprint manager to generate a fingerprint corresponding to a sensor pattern. The example apparatus also includes a node interfacer to determine a number of workstations of a process control system that exhibit the fingerprint, and an excursion statistics calculator to invoke a corrective action for respective ones of the number of workstations, the corrective action based on a threshold count of the number of workstations that exhibit the fingerprint.