Digital Twin Models: BIM Meets NetLogo

Abstract

Digital twin is a computerized model of a physical device or system. Digital twins open new opportunities for operative decision making. Agent-Based Models (ABM) and simulations are core part of digital twins, especially in case of modelling humans in the spaces they act in. Microscopic simulations at the individual level have to be integrated with realistic models of environments. Here digital twins benefit from Building Information Models (BIM) but importing of BIM files into ABM platforms is not common. This problem is addressed in our paper. Principles of BIM are presented briefly. We suggest enhancing NetLogo modelling platform with BIM as the first step towards the development of digital twins models within NetLogo. The first part of the paper describes BIM formats and 3D visualization, including extraction of 3D model parts from IFC format. Parsing an IFC file using python is proposed, with recalculations of coordinates. It is also shown how the content of IFC can be reused in ABM and how simulations can affect BIM backwards.

Smart Cities: GIS Data for Realistic Simulations

“…Realistic simulation requires a precise specification of the environment, especially if it asked to be even an exact copy of the original (digital twin in this case). If the simulation is about a representation of building interior, it is possible to use BIM data to create environment (Kořínek et al, 2021). On the contrary for geographical area, importing data from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is the most efficient method.…”

Showcasing a digital twin for higher educational buildings: developing the concept toward human centricity

“…Chaoqun Zhuang, The Alan Turing Institute, United Kingdom It was not until recently that digital twins started to evolve within the built environment, and the literature is indicating that the building industry is running behind in digital twin development (Lu et al, 2019;Fuller et al, 2020;Kořínek et al, 2021;Hosamo et al, 2022a). Digital innovations for improving the way buildings are operated and utilized are yet to be validated in real building contexts as innovations for buildings are broadly represented by pilot studies (Hosamo Haidar et al, 2022b).…”

“…These systems are not compatible as data are stored in aggregated silos, which makes it difficult to merge them into one platform. There is also a lack of research on the integration of building data and building occupant data into one platform (Tang et al, 2019;Boje et al, 2020;Fuller et al, 2020;Kořínek et al, 2021;Nurumova et al, 2022). Furthermore, open data access is identified as a key concern for developing digital twins for the built environment.…”

Developing Human-Centered Urban Digital Twins for Community Infrastructure Resilience: A Research Agenda

“…For instance, height information from 2.5D city models is usually from interpolation rather than 3D measurements. To fill this gap, Lehner and Dorffner (2020) presented a concept to transform geodatasets in Vienna into a geodigital twin, which could serve as a geodata hub to process all relevant datasets to facilitate the construction of a city information model. To achieve this, they proposed a modified level of detail specification based on the datasets available for Vienna.…”