The results of a joint study by scientists from the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University and Shiraz University (Iran) were published in a special issue of the "Journal of Mining Institute" (Zapiski Gornogo instituta) on the topic of digital transformation at energy, oil and gas, and mining and metallurgical enterprises. The articles in the collection cover a wide range of cross-cutting digital technologies applications, from load identification to predicting reservoir properties and creating ontological models of enterprises.
One of the most complex and multifaceted areas of digitalization in industry is the creation of metaverses. These are virtual environments where production processes are modeled, optimized, and controlled using digital twins. Such work requires the use of the most advanced visualization and interaction tools (VR displays, AR glasses, holographic panels), as well as the application of IoT devices, artificial intelligence, and simulation.
Researchers from St. Petersburg and Shiraz proposed the set of equipment maintenance and repair processes as a starting platform for building a metaverse at an enterprise. The management of modern enterprises typically prefers to move to maintenance not preventively, according to the manufacturer's recommendation, nor reactively, after a breakdown occurs, but based on the actual condition, when it is truly necessary. A digital twin is very useful in this regard.
The article "Digital transformation of industrial machinery repair and maintenance to build an industrial metaverse" examines the concept of building such a virtual model and presents its architecture. One element of the system is worked out in detail – the process of creating an avatar of a cyber-physical service engineer. Laboratory experiments were conducted where the avatar was tested on the production task of servicing a centrifugal pump.
The interaction of the service engineer's avatar with the digital twins of the equipment will allow finding the optimal moment to perform maintenance and carrying out this process at a qualitatively new level.
