Holistic definition of the digital twin

The digital twin is widely known as a tool for digitalization of a product, but there is no common definition concerning this term. This article discusses the definition and utilization of digital twin. Areas of use, it’s implementation in the product lifecycle and most importantly it’s benefits. The lack of a standardized concept of a digital twin leads to a misunderstanding between mathematical models and digital twin. Several definitions of digital twin were analyzed and compared with the definition of mathematical model and simulation modelling. The basic concept of areas of use for digital twin is introduced. The differences and similarities between the two definitions were found. The article aims first of all to help the management of digital twins in practical application. Keywords: Digital twin, Mathematical modelling, Mathematical model, Lifecycle of a product, Simulation modelling, Practical use of digital twin, Difference between the digital twin and mathematical model, Simulation.

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Closed-Loop Digital Twin for the Product Lifecycle

10.21203/rs.3.rs-186777/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luiz Fernando C. S. Durão ◽

Eduardo Zancul ◽

Klaus Schützer

Keyword(s):

Closed Loop ◽

Product Lifecycle ◽

Digital Representation ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Twin Model ◽

Manufacturing Optimization ◽

Data Analyses ◽

Physical Product ◽

Open Issue ◽

Definition Of

Abstract Digital Twin advances have provided the conceptual ground for integrating a physical product with its digital representation. However, Digital Twin implementation has been focused on the beginning of life and manufacturing optimization, leaving space for developing a Digital Twin model that encompasses and connects different stages of the entire product lifecycle. In this scenario, the integration between company-internal data with real-time customers' data is still a challenge. Besides, implementing such a model in a multiplatform environment is also an open issue in the literature. This paper proposes the definition of a Closed-loop Digital Twin implemented as a middleware software that connects PLM, ERP, and MES data with customers' usage data. The proposed concept was implemented and tested in a learning factory. Results demonstrated the concept potential to consolidate product data, support data analyses, and provide insights for different stages of the product lifecycle.

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A Parametric Scan-to-FEM Framework for the Digital Twin Generation of Historic Masonry Structures

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su131911088 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (19) ◽

pp. 11088

Author(s):

Marco Francesco Funari ◽

Ameer Emad Hajjat ◽

Maria Giovanna Masciotta ◽

Daniel V. Oliveira ◽

Paulo B. Lourenço

Keyword(s):

Point Clouds ◽

Visual Programming ◽

Parametric Modelling ◽

Architectural Heritage ◽

Inverse Dynamic ◽

Historic Masonry ◽

Damage Scenarios ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Parametric Scan ◽

Definition Of

Historic masonry buildings are characterised by uniqueness, which is intrinsically present in their building techniques, morphological features, architectural decorations, artworks, etc. From the modelling point of view, the degree of detail reached on transforming discrete digital representations of historic buildings, e.g., point clouds, into 3D objects and elements strongly depends on the final purpose of the project. For instance, structural engineers involved in the conservation process of built heritage aim to represent the structural system rigorously, neglecting architectural decorations and other details. Following this principle, the software industry is focusing on the definition of a parametric modelling approach, which allows performing the transition from half-raw survey data (point clouds) to geometrical entities in nearly no time. In this paper, a novel parametric Scan-to-FEM approach suitable for architectural heritage is presented. The proposed strategy uses the Generative Programming paradigm implementing a modelling framework into a visual programming environment. Such an approach starts from the 3D survey of the case-study structure and culminates with the definition of a detailed finite element model that can be exploited to predict future scenarios. This approach is appropriate for architectural heritage characterised by symmetries, repetition of modules and architectural orders, making the Scan-to-FEM transition fast and efficient. A Portuguese monument is adopted as a pilot case to validate the proposed procedure. In order to obtain a proper digital twin of this structure, the generated parametric model is imported into an FE environment and then calibrated via an inverse dynamic problem, using as reference metrics the modal properties identified from field acceleration data recorded before and after a retrofitting intervention. After assessing the effectiveness of the strengthening measures, the digital twin ability of reproducing past and future damage scenarios of the church is validated through nonlinear static analyses.

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The DIM Approach for Digital Twin

Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering - Handbook of Research on Developing Smart Cities Based on Digital Twins ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7091-3.ch008 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 153-171

Author(s):

Matteo Del Giudice

Keyword(s):

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Heterogeneous Data ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Innovative Methods ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Modelling Methodology ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Virtual City ◽

Definition Of

In the era of connections and information and communication technologies, the building industry is facing the challenge of digitization at the building and urban scale. Several researches have been carried out to generate virtual city models to manage and represent a variety of data to reach the smart city concept. Therefore, the development of building/urban digital twins is directly linked to the definition of innovative methods and tools that are able to collect, organize, query heterogeneous data to make it available for the various involved actors. This chapter aims at presenting the district information modelling methodology that is strictly related to the digital twin concept, starting with data domains, arriving at the various tools developed to reach the users' needs.

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Digital Twin for Automatic Transportation in Industry 4.0

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21103344 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (10) ◽

pp. 3344

Author(s):

Alberto Martínez-Gutiérrez ◽

Javier Díez-González ◽

Rubén Ferrero-Guillén ◽

Paula Verde ◽

Rubén Álvarez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Industry 4.0 ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

Industrial Plant ◽

Smart Manufacturing ◽

Time Data ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Incremental Value ◽

Material Requirement ◽

Definition Of

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution consisting of the digitalization of processes facilitating an incremental value chain. Smart Manufacturing (SM) is one of the branches of the Industry 4.0 regarding logistics, visual inspection of pieces, optimal organization of processes, machine sensorization, real-time data adquisition and treatment and virtualization of industrial activities. Among these tecniques, Digital Twin (DT) is attracting the research interest of the scientific community in the last few years due to the cost reduction through the simulation of the dynamic behaviour of the industrial plant predicting potential problems in the SM paradigm. In this paper, we propose a new DT design concept based on external service for the transportation of the Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) which are being recently introduced for the Material Requirement Planning satisfaction in the collaborative industrial plant. We have performed real experimentation in two different scenarios through the definition of an Industrial Ethernet platform for the real validation of the DT results obtained. Results show the correlation between the virtual and real experiments carried out in the two scenarios defined in this paper with an accuracy of 97.95% and 98.82% in the total time of the missions analysed in the DT. Therefore, these results validate the model created for the AGV navigation, thus fulfilling the objectives of this paper.

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DIGITAL TWINS - DEFINITIONS, CLASSES AND BUSINESS SCENARIOS FOR DIFFERENT INDUSTRY SECTORS

Proceedings of the Design Society ◽

10.1017/pds.2021.129 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 1293-1302

Author(s):

Fabian Wilking ◽

Benjamin Schleich ◽

Sandro Wartzack

Keyword(s):

Product Portfolio ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Definition Of ◽

Industry Sectors ◽

New Industry

AbstractOver the recent years, several attempts were made to define the concept of the Digital Twin and to create a generic view for utilizing it within the industry. Still, many industry sectors are not able to transfer a generic definition into their product portfolio, as Digital Twins differ from each other to the same degree as physical products differ from each other. Hence, it is crucial to enlarge the definition towards a classification and business scenarios which enable sector specific views on the concept of the Digital Twin and help SME to utilize the concept towards their products. Future engineers will have to design physical products besides a digital counterpart and therefore have to identify interdependencies between these two products during the development. This paper discusses a generic definition of a Digital Twin that can be applied throughout different sectors as well as a classification for Digital Twins to enable the implementation of the concept on several maturity levels regarding the constraints of the product portfolio. In addition, these classes are viewed in different business scenarios and an outlook is given to further increase the usability of Digital Twins within new industry sectors.

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WHAT IS A DIGITAL TWIN? – DEFINITIONS AND INSIGHTS FROM AN INDUSTRIAL CASE STUDY IN TECHNICAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference ◽

10.1017/dsd.2020.15 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 757-766 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Trauer ◽

S. Schweigert-Recksiek ◽

C. Engel ◽

K. Spreitzer ◽

M. Zimmermann

Keyword(s):

Product Development ◽

Physical System ◽

Data Exchange ◽

Literature Study ◽

Industrial Case Study ◽

Technical Product ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Definition Of

AbstractOver the last two decades, a concept called Digital Twin has evolved rapidly. Yet, there is no unified definition of the term. Based on a literature study and an industrial case study, an overarching definition of Digital twins is presented. Three characteristics were identified – representation of a physical system, bidirectional data exchange, and the connection along the entire lifecycle. Further, three sub-concepts are presented, namely: Engineering Twin, Production Twin, and Operation Twin. The presented paper thus formulates a consistent and detailed definition of Digital Twins.

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The Dynamic Digital Twin: diagnosis, treatment, prediction and prevention of disease during the life course (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.35675 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Skander Tahar Mulder ◽

Amir-Houshang Omidvari ◽

Anja,J. Rueten-Budde ◽

Pei-Hua Huang ◽

Ki-Hun Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Implementation Strategies ◽

Medical Decision ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Future Goals ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Prediction And Prevention ◽

Patient Health ◽

Physical Asset ◽

Acquisition Management ◽

Definition Of

UNSTRUCTURED A Digital Twin (DT), which is defined originally as a virtual representation of a physical asset, system or process, is a new concept in healthcare. DT in healthcare cannot be a single technology, but a domain adapted multi-modal modelling approach, which incorporates the acquisition, management, analysis, prediction, and interpretation of the data, aiming to improve medical decision making. However, there are many challenges and barriers that has to be overcome before a DT can be used in healthcare. In this viewpoint paper, we address these challenges, and envision a dynamic DT in healthcare for optimizing individual patient health care journeys. We describe how we can commit multiple domains to developing this DT. With our cross-domain definition of the DT, we aim to define future goals, trade-offs, and methods, which guide the development of the dynamic DT and the implementation strategies in healthcare.

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Pipeline for ontology-based modeling and automated deployment of digital twins for planning and control of manufacturing systems

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing ◽

10.1007/s10845-021-01860-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Amon Göppert ◽

Lea Grahn ◽

Jonas Rachner ◽

Dennis Grunert ◽

Simon Hort ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Exchange ◽

Manufacturing Systems ◽

Digital Model ◽

Use Case ◽

Digital Twin ◽

Planning And Control ◽

Digital Twins ◽

Definition Of ◽

Fully Connected ◽

And Control

AbstractThe demand for individualized products drives modern manufacturing systems towards greater adaptability and flexibility. This increases the focus on data-driven digital twins enabling swift adaptations. Within the framework of cyber-physical systems, the digital twin is a digital model that is fully connected to the physical and digital assets. A digital model must follow a standardization for interoperable data exchange. Established ontologies and meta-models offer a basis in the definition of a schema, which is the first phase of creating a digital twin. The next phase is the standardized and structured modeling with static use-case specific data. The final phase is the deployment of digital twins into operation with a full connection of the digital model with the remaining cyber-physical system. In this deployment phase communication standards and protocols provide a standardized data exchange. A survey on the state-of-the-art of these three digital twin phases reveals the lack of a consistent workflow from ontology-driven definition to standardized modeling. Therefore, one goal of this paper is the design of an end-to-end digital twin pipeline to lower the threshold of creating and deploying digital twins. As the task of establishing a communication connection is highly repetitive, an automation concept by providing structured protocol data is the second goal. The planning and control of a line-less assembly system with manual stations and a mobile robot as resources and an industrial dog as the product serve as exemplary digital twin applications. Along this use-case the digital twin pipeline is transparently explained.

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