The College of

Arts and Sciences

Department of Computer Science

 

Summary of our work in Digital Twins, IoT/CPS and smart manufacturing

J. Cecil, Ph.D.

Professor and Co-Director, Center for Cyber Physical Systems Department of Computer Science, Oklahoma State University (OSU)

Email: j.cecil[at]okstate.edu

Prof. Cecil recognized as one of the most influential academics in smart manufacturing by SME 

SME article

OSU article

 

Excerpt from SME Website

Oklahoma State University computer science professor Joe Cecil has been recognized as one of the most influential academics in the country.

 

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the professional association committed to advancing manufacturing and developing a skilled workforce, released its list of top 20 academics in the field of smart manufacturing. The list highlights researchers and educators influencing the next generation of engineering practices. Cecil, co-director of OSU’s Center for Cyber Physical Systems, was among those selected by SME Media’s Smart Manufacturing magazine, along with the help of industry peers and manufacturing experts. 

 

“One of the best ways to develop the up-and-coming generation of manufacturing professionals is by exposing them to — as one of our honorees puts it — the pioneers and dreamers who are improving existing technologies and creating new ones,” said Robert Willig, executive director and CEO of SME. “Almost all of the 20 achievement-focused honorees number among their top accomplishments educating and shaping the next wave of pioneers and dreamers.”

It adopted a software-defined networking approach to support the collaborative interactions between software, equipment and users. Cecil’s group is also exploring the role of 3D virtual/mixed reality-based digital twins, which can serve as a vital link between distributed cyber and physical worlds. His next objective for his cyber-physical manufacturing collaboration would cover more distance than that from Europe to the United States. “My specific interest is in designing next-generation, cyber-physical approaches that will enable astronauts to interact fully, using mixed reality and other interfaces, with robots, work cells and other manufacturing resources and achieve self-sufficiency on a future lunar base,” he said. 

 

Wearing Vive™ headsets, Dr. Cecil and Avinash Gupta (lead graduate student) interact with a 3D Virtual Reality digital twin environment, which is a part of the IoT CPS test bed created at the Center. This Test Bed can assemble micron sized parts using robotic devices.

 

Additional information can be found here on this important recognition at this OSU web site (OSU article). The original article appears in the May 2021 issue of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) magazine (SME article)  - you will have to scroll down all the way towards the end of this article).  

 

A collage of images from our smart manufacturing projects and activities

 

Dr. J. Cecil co-directs the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems in the Department of Computer Science at Oklahoma State University. His pioneering work in smart manufacturing and cyber-physical systems (CPS) over the past two decades has contributed to the information centric foundations of these emerging fields of importance. Dr. Cecil has worked in both Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering departments, prior to his current position in Computer Science. Having a multi-disciplinary background, he has collaborated with a diverse group of engineering faculty and students, which has helped in the evolution of his smart manufacturing and cyber-physical perspectives along with fostering a more holistic cyber oriented emphasis to the design of next generation manufacturing systems. It should be noted that some of Dr. Cecil’s information centric manufacturing work involving virtual (cyber)-physical collaboration pre-dates the emergence of the Industry 4.0 initiative (in Germany, 2014). There is an overlap in the thrusts underlying the information centric manufacturing perspective and Industry 4.0.

 

A more comprehensive chronicle of his work in smart manufacturing, CPS and Internet-of-Things (IoT) can be found here.

 

Smart Manufacturing Frameworks based on IoT/CPS principles

Dr. Cecil’s recent research has investigated the design of information centric collaborative frameworks based on adoption of IoT and CPS principles towards the realization of Industry 4.0. practices. He has designed and implemented one of the first comprehensive Industry 4.0 test beds for advanced manufacturing (for the domain of micro devices assembly). In the proposed framework, a 3D digital twin serves as the link between distributed cyber (software and physical manufacturing resources.  The distributed collection of resources are linked through an innovative IoT network based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles. He has also researched a number of related issues involving modeling, simulation and exchange of data/information in support of collaborative cyber-physical practices.

 

3D Digital Twins play an important role in the realization of cyber-physical collaborative frameworks for manufacturing. A user (as shown above) can propose candidate plans, compare alternatives and choose the most feasible solution by interacting with a high fidelity 3D digital twin.

The digital twin, in turn, can interface with distributed physical work cells where specific manufacturing tasks are accomplished. Monitoring and feedback play an important part in such cyber-physical frameworks. The communication between these distributed cyber-physical entities assume significance. Software Defined Networking (SDN) and other next generation networking techniques play a key role in the realization of such IoT based CPS frameworks.

 

Cecil’s work has explored the adoption of information centric approaches which has laid the foundations for the design of collaborative IoT based cyber-physical systems, 3D digital twins and semantic approaches in advanced manufacturing. A key aspect of his work is the design of complex 3D Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality based simulation environments as a critical link between cyber (virtual) and physical worlds to support such smart manufacturing collaborations. A list of his published journal and conference days in the area of smart manufacturing can be found here (Journals, Conferences).
 
Dr. Cecil has been in the forefront of creating new course modules relating to smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. He taught courses in these topics beginning in 2002. His courses have always attracted an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate/graduate students in mechanical, manufacturing, industrial, electrical engineering and computer science, which reflects both the cyber-technology and manufacturing contexts of smart manufacturing. Recently, in 2016, he moved from Industrial Engineering to Computer Science (both at OSU) to co-direct the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems. He currently teaches courses in cyber-physical systems, Industry 4.0, digital prototyping, software engineering. Dr. Cecil pursued research in smart manufacturing and related areas as a faculty in Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments (from 1999-2016),which he has continued after moving to Computer Science). Cecil has worked in software and engineering enterprises (including Knowledge Based Systems, Inc., College Station) and other organizations in the Greater Houston / Gulf Coast Texas area prior to becoming a faculty member.
 
EDUCATION
 
Ph.D., Industrial Engineering.  Texas A&M University, College Station, 1995.
 
WORK EXPERIENCE
 
07/18 – Present Professor and Co-Director Center for Cyber Physical Systems, Oklahoma State University, Computer Science Department, Stillwater. OK
07/16 – 7/18 Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University, Computer Science, Stillwater. OK
1/09 – 6/16 Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University, Industrial Engineering, Stillwater.OK
7/05 – 12/08 Associate Professor, New Mexico State University, Industrial Engineering, Las Cruces, NM
1/01 – 6/05 Assistant Professor, New Mexico State University, Industrial Engineering, Las Cruces, NM.
11/98 -  12/00 Assistant Professor, Utah State University (USU), Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Logan, UT.
11 / 96 - 10 / 98 Project Manager, Center for Simulation Based Design & Gulf Coast Maritime Technology Center,  Orange, TX. 
5 / 95  - 10 / 96 Project Manager, Electronic Commerce Resource Center (ECRC), Knowledge Based Systems, Inc, College Station (until 11 / 95)   and Lamar University (until 10 / 96).
 
Research Profile in Smart Manufacturing
Dr. Cecil’s research involve multiple related thrusts in information centric engineering across several domains: smart manufacturing/robotics, smart health, space systems and cyber learning.
In the realm of smart manufacturing, his work has focused on design of IoT/CPS and web based collaborative frameworks, creation of high fidelity 3D digital twins as links between cyber and physical manufacturing environments, exploring semantic frameworks and methods to address interoperability issues and design of apps to support maker community activities.

Smart Manufacturing Frameworks based on IoT/CPS principles
Dr. Cecil’s recent research has investigated the design of information centric collaborative frameworks based on adoption of IoT and CPS principles towards the realization of Industry 4.0. practices. He has designed and implemented one of the first comprehensive Industry 4.0 test beds for advanced manufacturing (for the domain of micro devices assembly). In the proposed framework, a 3D digital twin serves as the link between distributed cyber (software and physical manufacturing resources.  The distributed collection of resources are linked through an innovative IoT network based on Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles. He has also researched a number of related issues involving modeling, simulation and exchange of data/information in support of collaborative cyber-physical practices.
 
The design of 3D digital twins
Dr. Cecil is one of the pioneers in the creation of 3D digital twins which can serve as a link between cyber (software) components and distributed physical manufacturing resources. His early papers laid the foundation for such a vision, which sought to provide a virtual medium where downstream manufacturing activities could be studied earlier (or upstream) through the creation of 3D digital twins. In one of the NSF funded GENI/US Ignite projects, his group created one of the first (or arguably) the first comprehensive IoT based CPS test bed; an advanced 3D digital twin environment was created using Virtual Reality tools and platforms (running on the Unity 3D engine). Engineers could propose assembly plans, sequences and study assembly alternatives virtually using 3D platforms such as the Vive. Distributed participants collaborated using Software Defined Networking (SDN) which enabled collaborative use of cyber and physical resources. A view of such a 3D Digital Twin serving as a cyber-physical link is shown below.

As part of an NSF and US Ignite initiative in smart manufacturing, he collaborated with networking researchers and designed/implemented one of the most comprehensive Industry 4.0 frameworks which enabled the rapid assembly of micro devices using distributed collaborative cyber and physical resources. Planning, control and feedback among the cyber-physical components was achieved through an IoT network of camera and controller sensors between work cell robotic devices and software based planning/monitoring modules exchanging data and information through innovative Software Defined Networking (SDN) approaches. This Industry 4.0 milestone was recognized through two Tech Demo awards at the NSF GENI conferences held in Washington, DC (2013) and Tempe, AZ (2016). In another project involving electronic assembly, he worked with industry practitioners to create an IoT based framework that enabled them to plan/simulate shop floor assembly process steps involving collaborative planning modules and camera based IoT components which provided real time feedback from the shop floor.

(above) Closeup view of a micro gripper performing an assembly task in one of the physical work cells in the IoT CPS framework created in the Industry 4.0 project. The camera based feedback is part of the IoT sensory based tracking and monitoring activity in the cyber-physical collaborative activities. The gripper can be seen in the side view grasping one of the micron size parts, which is part of a complex micro assembly.

 

 

Some of the recent smart manufacturing papers include the following:

1. Cecil, J., Albuhamood, S, Cecil-Xavier, A., An Industry 4.0 Cyber-Physical Framework for Micro Devices Assembly, Proceedings of 14th IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (IEEE CASE), Munich, Germany, August 20-24, 2018. Download PDF
2. Cecil, J.,Albuhamood, S., Cecil-Xavier, A., Ramanathan, P., An Advanced Cyber Physical Framework for Micro Devices Assembly, Special Issue on “Advanced CPS for Industry 4.0 - Enabling Technologies, Real-world Implementations, and Impact Assessments”, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, August 2017,Issue 99, pp. 1-15
3. Cecil, J., Albuhamood, S., Ramanathan, P., Gupta, A., (2019), An Internet-of-Things (IoT) based cyber manufacturing framework for the assembly of micro devices, special issue on Smart Cyber Physical Systems, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, April 2019, pp. 1-11.
4. Krishnamurthy, R., Cecil, J., A Next Generation IoT based Collaborative Framework for Electronics Assembly, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, April 2018, Volume 96, Issue 1–4,  39–52.

(The entire list of smart manufacturing papers can be found here).

 

Semantic Web based collaborative approaches in Industry 4.0 contexts
An important aspect of realizing Industry 4.0 objectives is being able to address the semantic interoperability issues among heterogenous software components supporting the various engineering and manufacturing activities. Cecil has investigated the creation of a ‘semantic web’ based approach which will enable virtual enterprise partners to be identified based on manufacturing needs.  This approach also provided an ontology based framework to support the formation of virtual enterprise partnerships along with ensuring the seamless exchange of data / information across computing platforms.
 
Creation of a Next Generation Smart Phone App for Cyber Manufacturing
This NSF (CMMI) project is currently underway. Dr. Cecil is investigating the design of cyber-physical app that can be run on smart phones to enable the Maker community to rapidly design and print 3D shapes. A core aspect of this 'app' would be to help engineers and others in the Maker community to quickly create a 3D part from scratch without having to use expensive CAD tools. User can intuitively design a new part or modify an existing design in a 3D environment using a touch screen interface on a smart phone or tablet; the modified designs can be then 3D printed through IoT interfaces which can also provide an update and camera view of the part being printed at a remote location.

 

A more detailed delineation of Cecil’s research work in smart manufacturing including Industry 4.0 including a chronicle of the major milestones achieved is provided here.

 

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Dr. Cecil has been in the forefront of curriculum development and has created new courses relating to smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. He has worked in both mechanical and industrial engineering departments where he taught courses in these topics beginning in 2002. His courses have always attracted an interdisciplinary group of undergraduate/graduate students in mechanical, manufacturing, industrial, electrical engineering and computer science, which reflects both the cyber-technology and manufacturing contexts of smart manufacturing. Recently, in 2016, he moved from Industrial Engineering to the department of Computer Science to co-direct the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems. He currently teaches ‘Introduction to Cyber-Physical Systems’ (senior/graduate level elective) focusing on CPS, IoT principles and techniques supporting realization of Industry 4.0 oriented collaborative practices. His second course ‘Modeling of Cyber-Physical Systems’ deals with teaching students on how to model and design such CPS approaches with an emphasis on robotic assembly and micro manufacturing processes. His courses emphasize theory, engineering methods and lab based software skills to prepare the next generation of engineers who can collaborate to support the realization of cyber-physical enterprises along the lines of Industry 4.0.

 

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Dr. Cecil is the founder and coordinator of the Soaring Eagle and Minorities in Manufacturing Engineering (MIME) programs. Soaring Eagle is an outreach and mentoring program aimed at providing engineering workshops for K-12 students with an emphasis on encouraging minorities and women to STEM careers. The Women in Computing initiative seeks to encourage women towards computing and STEM careers. These programs focus on introducing K-12 students to emerging smart manufacturing practices and technologies including introducing them to 3D printing, micro devices assembly and cyber (virtual) manufacturing approaches. These outreach programs target minority students (Women, African American, Native American, Hispanic, Children with Autism) as part of a long term effort aimed at providing an exciting and early exposure for K-12 students to smart manufacturing, computing and STEM.

 

RECENT GRANTS IN SMART MANUFACTURING

1. Cecil, J., PI, US IGNITE: A gigabit Network and Cyber-Physical framework for Advanced Manufacturing, NSF Computer and Networking Systems (10/1/2014 – 10/1/2020)
2. Cecil J., PI, Investigation of a Next Generation Application Tool for Cyber Manufacturing, NSF Cyber Manufacturing Program, CMMI, Sep 2017 – Feb 2022.
3. Cecil, J., PI, Mayfield (Co-PI), EAGER: CYMAN: A Cyber Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship initiative for Global Manufacturing, NSF Cyber Manufacturing Program, CMMI, 9/1/2015 – 8/30/2020
4. Cecil, J., PI, EAGER: US IGNITE: Web-architectures for Extensible, Adaptable and Scalable Manufacturing, NSF CMMI, 9/1/2012-8/30/2015.
5. Cecil, J.,PI, Cloud Computing for Collaborative Advanced Manufacturing, Mozilla Foundation, Feb – July 2013

 

Smart Manufacturing Papers: detailed listing can be found here 

 

AWARDS

• 2020 US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
• National Technical Innovation Award, Institute of Industrial Engineers, 2015
• ASME Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2015
• Outstanding Faculty Award in Recognition of Excellence in the Advancement of Land Grant Mission of Oklahoma State University, 2014
• 2017 Best Demo Award for STEM Learning, STEM Fair, Will Rogers Elementary School, February 2017.
• Member of Second place Team award, OSU President’s Cup for Creative Interdisciplinarity for Program in Space Engineering and Architecture
• Outstanding LSAMP Mentor Award, spring 2013
• Cecil, J., Ramanathan, P., Tech Demo Award, , A Cyber Physical Test Bed for Advanced Manufacturing, GENI GEC 24 Conference, Mar 8-9, 2016, Tempe, Arizona 
• Cecil, J., Ramanathan, P., Tech Demo Award, US Ignite/GENI: A Cyber Physical Test Bed for Micro Devices Assembly, GENI and US Ignite Conference, March 2013, Washington, D.C.

 

SERVICE ACTIVITIES (CONFERENCES, JOURNALS, PROPOSAL REVIEWS)

• Co-organizer (and Program Co-Chair) for International Workshop on Enterprise Integration, Interoperability and Networking) organized as part of an international conference (On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems) in 2012 and 2013.
• Main Organizer and Program Chair of First NSF Information Centric Engineering (ICE) workshop held in conjunction with EI2N 2011, Hersonissos, Greece, Sept 8 -11, 2011 (funded by NSF CMMI)
• Program Chair, Houston National Electronics Commerce Conference, August 14-16, 1996 (co-hosted with the University of Houston)
• Co-Organizer of Track on Industrial Applications of Enterprise Models and Integration (EM&I) for the 2014 IFAC Congress (held in South Africa in Aug 2014)
• Topic Organizer, Symposium and Session Chairs (Digital Manufacturing and ICE topics) at IMECE ASME Annual Congress (1999, 2005, 2008 – 2016)
• Session Moderator at the 2005 and 2006 Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing Conferences (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems and Next Generation Manufacturing Systems sessions respectively)
• Session Chair, IT in Manufacturing, 2004 Annual Industrial Engineering Research Conference, May 17-21, Portland, OR.
• Session Co-Chair, Training and Education In VR and Manufacturing, Industrial Virtual Reality: Manufacturing and Design Tool for the Next Millennium, NIST-ASME Industrial Virtual Reality Symposium, University of Illinois at Chicago, Nov. 1-2, 1999
• Sessions Chairs in various conferences: IEEE Systems (2017- 2019), IEEE SMC (2018), ACM (2017), ASEE/FIE annual conferences, ASME IMECE (2001 – 2017) and Annual IIE conferences (2001 – 2016)