Digital Twins for Education and Study of Engineering Sciences

Abstract

Generally a digital twin is a software-model as a prototype for some product, ordered by a customer. It shell be used on all stages of industrial production of this ordered product, compering the actual state with the model und correcting the differences. A “virtual world” will be created from the “real word” and both “worlds” communicate with each other during production. At the educational institutions of engineering like universities, trainings centres or schools the digital twins are software-models of industrial plants, which are simulated and visualized similar to its industrial originals and synchronized with them. The presented paper shows steps of design of digital twins upon some examples of the master degree program at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. It will be described why and how it is possible to use the digital twins. The ways from an original device to its model will be drawn. The different stages of the development of software-models, which are equipped with different levels of source code, will be shown. The actual trends to include the hardware into a software-model, so called hardware-in-the-loop and rapid control prototyping, will be described. Finally the advantages and disadvantages of digital twins for engineering study including the economic considerations will be discussed.

Developing a Skilled Workforce for Future Industry Demand: The Potential of Digital Twin-Based Teaching and Learning Practices in Engineering Education

“…These problems with DT technology will inhibit the needed evolution of engineering education. The students in the Master's program at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Germany were taught automation and industrial plant process control technologies with DT modelling (Figure 6) [98]. The learning process consisted of converting the mathematical models of the industrial plant processes into hardware models to replicate the real system.…”

“…Sustainability 2023, 15, x FOR PEER REVIEW 14 of 27 Figure 6. DT modelling for education and industry levels using various models (adapted from [98]; license: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [99]).…”

“…Aalto University has arranged an interdisciplinary student learning facility with DT modelling [101] to learn virtually real industrial operations, predictive maintenance, and Figure 6. DT modelling for education and industry levels using various models (adapted from [98]; license: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [99]).…”

Towards a Domain-Neutral Platform for Sustainable Digital Twin Development

“…Without any doubt, the most numerous works in the field of DTs are those that deal with solving specific practical tasks in different domains by applying the idea of a DT. In this context, we will only mention some results that are directly related to the topic of research in this paper, specifically referring to the management of sustainable infrastructure, such as buildings and energy [15][16][17], and learning and education [18,19].…”

Remote Laboratory as an Educational Tool in Robotics Experimental Course

“…Serge (2020) showed steps of design of digital twins upon examples of the master's degree program at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. He described why and how it is possible to use digital twins [20]. However, so far, all researchers have focused on using virtual labs to improve the effectiveness of distance practice teaching.…”