Tesla Giga Austin Factory

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After reading this quote from AUTOCAR PROFESSIONAL :
"Plant with ‘digital twin’
There are two Dresden wafer fabs – one in the real world, and one in the digital world. Experts call this a ‘digital twin’. During construction, all parts of the factory and all relevant construction data relating to the plant as a whole were recorded digitally and visualised in a three-dimensional model. The twin comprises roughly half a million 3D objects, including buildings and infrastructure, supply and disposal systems, cable ducts and ventilation systems, and machinery and manufacturing lines. This allows Bosch to simulate both process optimization plans and renovation work without intervening in ongoing operations. Moreover, any new machinery is always delivered to the plant twice – once in the real world and once as a data model."........

I was wondering if Elon does the same thing at his Giga Factories?

Haven't read anything about it but it would seem that Elon would do this.
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Diehard

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After reading this quote from AUTOCAR PROFESSIONAL :
"Plant with ‘digital twin’
There are two Dresden wafer fabs – one in the real world, and one in the digital world. Experts call this a ‘digital twin’. During construction, all parts of the factory and all relevant construction data relating to the plant as a whole were recorded digitally and visualised in a three-dimensional model. The twin comprises roughly half a million 3D objects, including buildings and infrastructure, supply and disposal systems, cable ducts and ventilation systems, and machinery and manufacturing lines. This allows Bosch to simulate both process optimization plans and renovation work without intervening in ongoing operations. Moreover, any new machinery is always delivered to the plant twice – once in the real world and once as a data model."........

I was wondering if Elon does the same thing at his Giga Factories?

Haven't read anything about it but it would seem that Elon would do this.
Watching the drone videos, my guess is Tesla is using 7D Building Information Modeling (BIM). It is not just having a digital copy of physical objects. It has multiple dimensions including cost of every component with it’s own timeline as a part of digital asset with their own dependencies. In case of Giga Texas it is more complex than building a bridge because they seem to have plans to have Y line running before everything is finished so there are even more dependencies. They can’t leave anything that can have impact on other’s out of the model (rain, money, regulations, …) so when things do hit the fan they immediately know how to adjust and can see the impact on everything down the line. Topographic and GIS data from digital world could be fed into heavy machinery for paving roadways and other smi automatic processes (some with human supervision).

I am not sure if what you are talking about is an entirely different thing or along the same lines but in 7D, in digital world you can move your slider on the timeline before anything exist in the physical world and see the status of every variable. As you build and you realize your crystal ball was not perfect, you adjust your digital world to match what is really happening.

I have had a very superficial exposure to it but was highly impressed by how well it worked.
 
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Watching the drone videos, my guess is Tesla is using 7D Building Information Modeling (BIM). It is not just having a digital copy of physical objects. It has multiple dimensions including cost of every component with it’s own timeline as a part of digital asset with their own dependencies. In case of Giga Texas it is more complex than building a bridge because they seem to have plans to have Y line running before everything is finished so there are even more dependencies. They can’t leave anything that can have impact on other’s out of the model (rain, money, regulations, …) so when things do hit the fan they immediately know how to adjust and can see the impact on everything down the line. Topographic and GIS data from digital world could be fed into heavy machinery for paving roadways and other smi automatic processes (some with human supervision).

I am not sure if what you are talking about is an entirely different thing or along the same lines but in 7D, in digital world you can move your slider on the timeline before anything exist in the physical world and see the status of every variable. As you build and you realize your crystal ball was not perfect, you adjust your digital world to match what is really happening.

I have had a very superficial exposure to it but was highly impressed by how well it worked.
I know very little about the current construction technologies but would like to get a more in-depth knowledge on the subject.

I watch Joe Tegtmeyer's videos of the Giga Austin construction because he gives a more in-depth prospective and seems to have some "insider" information at times(so he says anyway).

But he hasn't got to that level of the construction process as you just described.

Thanks for the info Diehard and any more you can post would be cool too! :) ?
 

Diehard

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I know very little about the current construction technologies but would like to get a more in-depth knowledge on the subject.

I watch Joe Tegtmeyer's videos of the Giga Austin construction because he gives a more in-depth prospective and seems to have some "insider" information at times(so he says anyway).

But he hasn't got to that level of the construction process as you just described.

Thanks for the info Diehard and any more you can post would be cool too! :) ?
My pleasure. I am not a construction guy but one of the projects I was managing involved automating construction projects. So anything I know is second hand and a bit outdated. Since we are on a truck website, I have no doubt there are are ton of folks here that are in the field, know a whole lot more and will pitch in
 

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Watching the drone videos, my guess is Tesla is using 7D Building Information Modeling (BIM). It is not just having a digital copy of physical objects. It has multiple dimensions including cost of every component with it’s own timeline as a part of digital asset with their own dependencies. In case of Giga Texas it is more complex than building a bridge because they seem to have plans to have Y line running before everything is finished so there are even more dependencies. They can’t leave anything that can have impact on other’s out of the model (rain, money, regulations, …) so when things do hit the fan they immediately know how to adjust and can see the impact on everything down the line. Topographic and GIS data from digital world could be fed into heavy machinery for paving roadways and other smi automatic processes (some with human supervision).

I am not sure if what you are talking about is an entirely different thing or along the same lines but in 7D, in digital world you can move your slider on the timeline before anything exist in the physical world and see the status of every variable. As you build and you realize your crystal ball was not perfect, you adjust your digital world to match what is really happening.

I have had a very superficial exposure to it but was highly impressed by how well it worked.
This is what I do at Siemens but I build layered semantic models which employ discrete (qualitative) DTs rather than the traditional CAD and quantitative DTs. Think ‘back of the envelope’ calculations vs full-blown exact copies. I have heard of some ‘portions’ of BIM models being used in DTs but nothing as complete as described by BOSCH or anyone else. It is coming if not already here in the semantic world. I have not heard of Tesla being involved in DT but this would really be about the software the prime contractor is using. Also, given the focus Tesla has on ML I would not be surprised if this isn’t on their plate right now.
 


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After reading this quote from AUTOCAR PROFESSIONAL :
"Plant with ‘digital twin’
There are two Dresden wafer fabs – one in the real world, and one in the digital world. Experts call this a ‘digital twin’. During construction, all parts of the factory and all relevant construction data relating to the plant as a whole were recorded digitally and visualised in a three-dimensional model. The twin comprises roughly half a million 3D objects, including buildings and infrastructure, supply and disposal systems, cable ducts and ventilation systems, and machinery and manufacturing lines. This allows Bosch to simulate both process optimization plans and renovation work without intervening in ongoing operations. Moreover, any new machinery is always delivered to the plant twice – once in the real world and once as a data model."........

I was wondering if Elon does the same thing at his Giga Factories?

Haven't read anything about it but it would seem that Elon would do this.
I work for a very large general contractor. We don't build tesla factories but we have built some of their competitors. Most large scale building is now designed in 3D models and within 10 years I am certain that 2D building planning will be almost as ancient as hand drawn plans are now. BIM is the abbreviation for building information modeling. Revit or Rhino are common software but there are a handful of others. Mostly designers are using this 3D software because it actually simplifies the process of drawing section and elevations and creating a 2D plan set from the 3D model that the construction world (still stuck in 2D) can use to build the building. I am certain that Tesla is modeling all their projects in 3D. One of the primary advantages is that with all the designers and contractors working to build the building design in 3D and overlay all their designs they can discover design conflicts early and try to prevent them before building them in the field. It can save projects a lot of money especially complicated factoried like Tesla Gigafactory. They are definitely planning these projects in 3D models and they are definitely integrating the machinery into the models to confirm fit. Some of the machinery companies will even let you download the compatible 3D models directly from their website. There is no way that Tesla is advanced as they are without having a digital twin.
 

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I actually worked in the SolarCity facility when it was being set up and I have also worked at multiple solar and factory projects. I'd be amazed if there wasn't some kind of back end planning like this going on.

Also, from what I've seen it's not uncommon for facilities at 50%-60% completion to be able to roll out product these days. A solar plant I worked at had a tarp wall and we're handling panels by cart since their loader robots weren't in place yet and those panels went to customers.
 
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They are definitely planning these projects in 3D models and they are definitely integrating the machinery into the models to confirm fit.
The IDRA Giga Press comes to mind.
 
 




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