Tom is undertaking his master’s thesis at the SDU Center for Large Structure Production (LSP). His research focuses on enhancing robotic system simulations by combining technically accurate digital twins with state-of-the-art game engine technologies.

The core of Tom’s thesis involves extending the capabilities of VEROSIM, a tool used at LSP for simulating and managing robotic production environments. While VEROSIM is a powerful expert tool, its complexity limits its usability for non-experts. To address this, Tom’s research explores the integration of VEROSIM with Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), a cutting-edge game engine renowned for its advanced 3D rendering, physics simulation, and user interface capabilities.

Tom’s work is divided into two main areas: improving dynamic user interfaces and enhancing production environment simulations. For the dynamic interfaces, his focus is on developing seamless integration with VEROSIM, creating spatially aware interactions, and implementing immersive controls. He also aims to enable rapid prototyping and customization of these interfaces, potentially incorporating virtual reality (VR) to enhance user immersion.

In terms of production environment simulations, Tom is leveraging UE5’s ability to model detailed, realistic environments, such as shipyards or construction sites, while simulating real-world conditions like weather and terrain. His work also involves creating dynamic interactions within these environments, where robotic actions and collisions are realistically portrayed, and ensuring bidirectional feedback between UE5 and VEROSIM.

Tom’s thesis aims to develop tools that could make digital twin simulations at LSP more user-friendly and efficient, focusing on improving the practical aspects of robotic simulations by making production processes more straightforward and improving how these environments are visualized.