#31 - What is Digital Twin? - 2

Why and How to Design Digital Twins?

Digital twins can be created for a wide range of applications, for example, to test a prototype or design, assess how a product or process will work under different conditions, and determine and monitor lifecycles.

A digital twin design is made by gathering data and creating computational models to test it. This can include an interface between the digital model and an actual physical object to send and receive feedback and data in real-time.

Data

A digital twin requires data about an object or process in order for a virtual model to be created that can represent the behaviors or states of the real-world item or procedure. This data may relate to the lifecycle of a product and include design specifications, production processes, or engineering information. It can also include production information including equipment, materials, parts, methods, and quality control. Data can also be related to the operation, such as real-time feedback, historical analysis, and maintenance records. Other data used in digital twin design can include business data or end-of-life procedures.

Modeling

Once the data has been gathered it can be used to create computational analytical models to show operating effects, predict states such as fatigue, and determine behaviors. These models can prescribe actions based on engineering simulations, physics, chemistry, statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, business logic, or objectives. These models can be displayed via 3D representations and augmented reality modeling in order to aid human understanding of the findings.

Linking

The findings from digital twins can be linked to create an overview, such as by taking the findings of equipment twins and putting them into a production line twin, which can then inform a factory-scale digital twin. By using linked digital twins in this way it is possible to enable smart industrial applications for real-world operational developments and improvements.

Benefits

The benefits of digital twin differ depending on when and where it is used. For example, using digital twin to monitor existing products, such as a wind turbine or oil pipeline, can reduce maintenance burdens and save many millions in associated costs. Digital twins can also be used for prototyping ahead of manufacture, reducing product defects, and shortening the time to market. Other instances of digital twin use can include process improvements, whether that is the monitoring of staffing levels against output or aligning a supply chain with manufacturing or maintenance requirements.

Common benefits include increased reliability and availability through monitoring and simulation to improve performance. They can also reduce the risk of accidents and unplanned downtime through failure, lower maintenance costs by predicting failure before it occurs, and ensure production goals are not impacted by scheduling maintenance, repair, and the ordering of replacement parts. A digital twin can also offer continued improvements by analyzing customization models and ensuring product quality through performance testing in real-time.

However, for all of the benefits, a digital twin is not suitable in all instances as it can increase complexity. Some business problems simply do not need a digital twin and can be solved without the associated investment in time and cost.

Examples

Examples of a digital twin can be found across the industry and beyond for manufacturing, maintenance, and failure prevention/lifecycle monitoring.

Applications range from automotive uses where sensors provide feedback from vehicles to the digital twin program, factories where processes are simulated by digital twin to provide improvements, and healthcare where sensors can inform a digital twin to monitor and predict the well-being of a patient.

Where is it Used?

Digital twins are used in a wide variety of industries for a range of applications and purposes. Some notable examples include:

• Manufacture: Digital twins can make manufacturing more productive and streamlined while reducing throughput times.

• Automotive: One example of where digital twins are used in the automotive industry is to gather and analyze operational data from a vehicle in order to assess its status in real-time and inform product improvements.

• Retail: Outside of manufacturing and industry, a digital twin is used in the retail sector to model and augment the customer experience, whether at the level of a shopping center or for individual stores.

• Healthcare: The medical sector has benefitted from digital twin in areas such as organ donation, surgery training, and de-risking of procedures. Systems have also modeled the flow of people through hospitals and track where infections may exist and who may be in danger through contact.

• Disaster Management: Global climate change has had an impact across the world in recent years, yet the digital twin can help to combat this by the informed creation of smarter infrastructures, emergency response plans, and climate change monitoring.

• Smart Cities: Digital twin can also be used to help cities become more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable. Virtual models can guide planning decisions and offer solutions to the many complex challenges faced by modern cities. For example, real-time responses to problems can be informed by real-time information from digital twins to allow assets such as hospitals to react to a crisis.

The next article, BIM Uses

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