In context
In September 2023, industrial digitalization was a top priority for manufacturers seeking to optimize complex workflows. Digital twin technology was emerging as a key enabler, but creating accurate virtual representations of physical systems remained challenging. This collaboration between Nvidia and Hexagon aimed to address that gap by integrating reality capture and manufacturing data with advanced simulation and AI.
What was reported
Hexagon, a Stockholm-based leader in digital reality solutions, announced integrations from its HxDR reality-capture and Nexus manufacturing platforms to Nvidia Omniverse, an open platform for industrial metaverse applications. The integration leverages Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) plug-ins and Nvidia AI technologies to enable physically accurate, synchronized digital twins.
The connected platforms are designed to benefit multiple ecosystems, including agriculture, autonomous mobility, buildings, cities, defense, infrastructure, manufacturing, and mining. They provide a unified view for collaborative planning, helping industrial customers optimize workflows and improve efficiency at scale.
At the HxGN LIVE Global event, Hexagon and Nvidia demonstrated how teams can aggregate and simulate ultra-complex data from HxDR and Nexus using Omniverse. Hexagon is also developing an AI-enabled web application based on Omniverse that will allow real-time comparisons between digital twins and their physical counterparts, accelerating decision-making and enabling rapid iteration across distributed teams.
Why it mattered
This partnership signaled a move toward software-defined manufacturing, where digital twins become central to automating workflows and transforming services. By fusing physical and digital worlds, it aimed to help manufacturers tackle complex engineering problems more efficiently, potentially reducing costs and time-to-market in the $46 trillion manufacturing industry.
"For industrial businesses to reach the next level of digitalization, they need to create accurate, virtual representations of their physical systems."
Source: Robotics & Automation News (roboticsandautomationnews.com) · Published 2023-09-05 · “Nvidia and Hexagon launch new technologies to accelerate industrial digitalization”