Digital Twin-Based Autonomous Manufacturing Enters Official U.S. Testbed... Domestic Technology Internationally Validated

The domestically developed digital twin-based autonomous manufacturing technology has been officially registered as an internationally recognized testbed, marking its entry onto the global stage of manufacturing technology. This achievement is significant as it demonstrates that autonomous manufacturing technology-where processes make decisions and optimize themselves beyond simple automation-has been validated in real industrial settings.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials announced that its autonomous manufacturing technology testbed, which combines digital twin and artificial intelligence (AI), has been registered in the official Digital Twin Testbed Program of the Digital Twin Consortium (DTC). This is a case where domestic autonomous manufacturing technology has been recognized for its technological prowess and reliability on an international standard platform.

Taekmin Lee, Senior Researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, is explaining the operation screen of the digital twin-based autonomous manufacturing testbed. Provided by Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials

원본보기 아이콘

The testbed registered this time is an autonomous manufacturing system that combines digital twin and AI multi-agent technology, targeting roll-to-roll (R2R) process equipment for secondary battery electrode manufacturing. By synchronizing the digital twin of actual manufacturing equipment with a virtual space in real time, the system perceives and predicts process status and autonomously optimizes operating conditions.

Through a structure in which multiple AI agents cooperate-each responsible for data collection, preprocessing, modeling, control, and maintenance-the system implements a closed-loop autonomous manufacturing framework that responds to changes in process conditions or disturbances without human intervention.

Whereas conventional manufacturing systems relied on the experience of skilled operators and repetitive control, this technology demonstrates a manufacturing approach in which the process itself learns and evolves based on digital twin and AI.

By integrating equipment condition analysis, automatic calibration of control parameters, quality prediction, and anomaly diagnosis, the system realizes an intelligent manufacturing environment capable of managing process stability and quality variation, as well as enabling early response in the event of anomalies.

Multi-AI Agent Digital Twin Configuration for Autonomous Manufacturing. Provided by Machine Research Institute

원본보기 아이콘

The secondary battery electrode manufacturing process is a representative high-difficulty industrial field that requires frequent changes in process conditions and precise control. The research team demonstrated that by applying autonomous manufacturing technology to this process, they have expanded the digital twin from a simple virtual model to a manufacturing system capable of autonomous decision-making. This is evaluated as being in line with the next-generation digital twin concept pursued by the DTC.

Taekmin Lee, Senior Researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, stated, "The registration of this testbed in the DTC program is significant as it officially recognizes both the technical completeness and international credibility of digital twin-based autonomous manufacturing technology," adding, "We have presented a form of autonomous manufacturing, where the process makes decisions and optimizes itself, that can be implemented in real manufacturing sites."

This achievement is part of a research project supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and was officially registered in the DTC Digital Twin Testbed Program in December 2025. The industry sees this as evidence of the global competitiveness of domestic autonomous manufacturing technology.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.