Digital Twin: Origin to Future

Abstract

Digital Twin (DT) refers to the virtual copy or model of any physical entity (physical twin) both of which are interconnected via exchange of data in real time. Conceptually, a DT mimics the state of its physical twin in real time and vice versa. Application of DT includes real-time monitoring, designing/planning, optimization, maintenance, remote access, etc. Its implementation is expected to grow exponentially in the coming decades. The advent of Industry 4.0 has brought complex industrial systems that are more autonomous, smart, and highly interconnected. These systems generate considerable amounts of data useful for several applications such as improving performance, predictive maintenance, training, etc. A sudden influx in the number of publications related to ‘Digital Twin’ has led to confusion between different terminologies related to the digitalization of industries. Another problem that has arisen due to the growing popularity of DT is a lack of consensus on the description of DT as well as so many different types of DT, which adds to the confusion. This paper intends to consolidate the different types of DT and different definitions of DT throughout the literature for easy identification of DT from the rest of the complimentary terms such as ‘product avatar’, ‘digital thread’, ‘digital model’, and ‘digital shadow’. The paper looks at the concept of DT since its inception to its predicted future to realize the value it can bring to certain sectors. Understanding the characteristics and types of DT while weighing its pros and cons is essential for any researcher, business, or sector before investing in the technology.

Implementation of Battery Digital Twin: Approach, Functionalities and Benefits

“…The number of literature specific to DTs has increased drastically in the last decade [8,18]. The topic is explored in various domains, such as product optimization, production planning/control, layout planning, maintenance, or product lifecycle.…”

“…Some articles [8,9] describe seemingly similar concepts to DTs, such as digital shadow, virtual model, product avatar and digital thread, but they do not necessarily indicate the complete concept of DT, but rather fragments of overlapping functions. DT implementation is often mapped to IoT (Internet of Things) devices and CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems) [10,11], due to its high dependence on a compatible mode of data acquisition.…”

Digitalized Automation Engineering of Industry 4.0 Production Systems and Their Tight Cooperation with Digital Twins

“…To meet the requirements on the runtime coordination of shop-floor devices, it is needed to plan production execution according to the latest state of the system and according to the current availability of resources and materials. Therefore, we are using production planner utilizing academic standard "Planning Domain Definition Language" (frequently abbreviated as "PDDL" and introduced in details later in Section 2.3), however, we need a digital twin [5] keeping the global state of the system as an enabler for planner-supported production execution.…”

“…In the last two decades, the concept of the digital twin has evolved and has matured into wide usage within various Industry 4.0 applications. The term "digital twin" is, however, frequently confused and misused with the term "simulation", as it is explained in [5,6] due to the current trend of overall and unclear "digitalization" of production systems and processes. In the context of this article, simulation is an executable model for the real system, which however does not need to be synchronized with the real twin.…”

3D Printing and Implementation of Digital Twins: Current Trends and Limitations

“…In the field of 3D printing, digital twins can be very useful towards leading to process parameter optimization by monitoring the process and detecting possible faults by utilizing in situ sensors' data as input. There is a constantly growing number of digital twins being used in various fields [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]; however, their use in the 3D printing process is still underway or limited.…”