Siemens delivers immersive virtual factory demo experience using NVIDIA Omniverse development platform.

NVIDIA (CEO Jensen Huang), a leader in AI computing technology, announced that NVIDIA collaborated with Siemens to create a digital model of the next-generation FREYR battery factory that was unveiled at the Hannover Messe, held in Hannover, Germany for five days from April 17 to 21.

The model was developed to highlight the strategic partnership announced by Siemens and Freire on the 17th, in which Siemens will be the preferred supplier of automation technology to enable the Norway-based Freire to expand its production and maximize plant efficiency.

The demo, built by Siemens, uses the NVIDIA Omniverse development platform to provide an immersive experience of the Prayer factory. The demo also follows the joint vision of the industrial metaverse that Siemens and NVIDIA unveiled last year.

The demo can be seen at the Siemens booth at Hannover Messe 2023, the world's largest industrial technology fair. The demo integrates operational data from the FREYR plant in Norway.

This demo highlights the integration between Siemens Xcelerator and NVIDIA Omniverse, and provides 3D representations of infrastructure, plants, machinery, equipment, human factors, safety information, robots, autonomous vehicles, and detailed product and production simulations.

These technologies will help fuel cell manufacturers meet the rapidly growing demand for cost-effective, high-density battery cells for stationary energy storage, electric mobility and marine applications.

As sustainability initiatives increase globally and transportation rapidly electrifies, the battery industry is expected to grow to $400 billion by 2030. Battery cell manufacturing is a critical step in the battery value chain, and manufacturers are investing billions of dollars in new battery cell factories to meet the new demand.

In the demo, Siemens uses existing and future plant models to present its vision of how teams can leverage comprehensive digital twins in the industrial metaverse.

At the digital Prayer factory in Norway, Prayers can prepare for meetings with potential investors or customers, and even tour the facility's exterior to see ongoing production processes before entering the factory.

A striking interior fly-through immediately conveys the size and scale of the facility. Physically accurate real-time simulations show how machines and robots move inside the plant, and can simulate even complex processes. Sensors that capture machine information enable real-time performance visualization and ergonomic evaluation.

The demo also shows how the model can be used for production planning and highlights how plant managers can quickly assess plant performance using a custom Siemens application that provides an at-a-glance overview of facility operations.

Here, managers initiate Microsoft Teams meetings with colleagues in a manufacturing “cell,” which strategically places key personnel, machines and supplies within a virtual factory.

The team can then inspect the robot arm for short cycle times, access machine performance data to identify specific cycle time issues, and view real-time video streams alongside sensor data on machine performance.

This showcase at the Hannover Messe is just the beginning, with many more industries adopting and implementing the industrial metaverse.

You can learn more about NVIDIA Omniverse here and our partnership with Siemens here.