Digital Twin: Technology Evolution Stages and Implementation Layers With Technology Elements

Abstract

Digital twin has recently received considerable attention in various industry domains. The digital twin replicates physical objects (e.g., people, objects, spaces, systems, and processes) in the real world into digital objects in the digital world. It also provides various simulations to solve problems in the real world or to improve situational operations. Therefore, the digital twin is a convergence of various technologies, such as advanced machine-learning algorithms, data analytics, super-resolution visualization and modeling, and simulation. Because the digital twin is a complicated technology, a step-by-step implementation that includes many technology elements should be considered to create a digital twin model. In this study, implementation layers are introduced to guide practical implementations of the digital twin. In addition, technology elements were suggested for the presented implementation layers. Because the suggested technology elements include clear technology definitions, various application domains (e.g., energy, transportation, logistics, environment, manufacturing, and smart cities) can easily utilize the introduced implementation layers and technology elements according to the intended purpose. Furthermore, this paper describes the evolution of digital twins. Digital twin technology has evolved continuously since 2002, when the digital twin concept was first introduced. In the described evolution levels, we show the future aspects of digital twin technology, according to the technological evolution direction. Therefore, the digital twin model can be efficiently created by considering the evolution direction and future aspects by using the suggested digital twin evolution levels.

Intelligent lighting system based on digital twins in smart home

“…Digital twins is a technology platform integrated with various domains as shown in Figure 5. The major technologies related to can be classified as followed [9] :…”

An Interoperable Digital Twin with the IEEE 1451 Standards

“…There is no consensus on DT development, and each author introduces a different concept. However, the stages of designing and developing a DT are as follows: mirror the physical into the digital world; monitor and control the DT monitoring; model and simulate the DT from the simulation result of data; federate the DT to optimise the complex objects and interoperated Federated DTs; and, finally, act autonomously, recognising and solving problems in the federated DTs [ 24 ].…”

Towards the Digital Twin (DT) of Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NBIoT) Wireless Communication in Industrial Indoor Environment

“…This includes production to manufacturing, operations to maintenance. In [ 17 ], the authors presented the evolution levels of DT, implementation layers, and future aspects of DT. The implementation layers were supported with technological elements as an introduction.…”