Imagine you could create a twin of yourself, even more than that, you also create the same duplicate ambiance around the twin. Your other you will not feel any pain, so creativity runs wild and possible experiments are endless since there are no consequences.
Well, digital twin is just that, as organisations create a digital dummy so to say, to experiment their ideas and concepts on it before any side effects occur, and before taking any decisions to go for the end product. It saves time and money.
Fascinating isn`t it? In this day and age, avant-garde tech allows for such creations, and for those of you who never heard about this, well, keep reading as it might come handy.
How Does a Digital Twin Work?
It is configured to copy a physical item precisely via a virtual creation of the object or system. It also processes the object`s lifecycle, it gets regular updates from real-time data, and utilises simulation, machine learning and rationale to assist in decisions.
Let us take an object as an example – a wind turbine. Several sensors are implemented to the physical real wind turbine to ascertain all the essential regions of functionality, and acquire data about energy output, temperature, and weather status. Data derived from the sensors is then fed to the processing system which successively uploads it to the digital copy.
Now, with this data the digital twin can be utilised to carry out various simulations, analyse performance issues, and create potential improvements. The ultimate goal here is to obtain critical info which will improve the real object, in our case the wind turbine.
Digital Twin VS Simulator
They might seem the same as they both utilise digital models, however a digital twin exists in a virtual environment which makes it more flexible and provides endless possibilities to study in that format.
Digital twins and simulators differ mainly on a matter of scale, since a simulation usually studies one particular process, while a digital twin can utilise several numbers of useful simulations to study numerous processes.
Moreover, real-time data doesn`t usually benefit simulations, however a two-way flow is designed for digital twins whereas info first passes from the sensors on the real object to the virtual object, and then back again to the original source subject with insights obtained and created by the processor.
This way digital twins are advantaged as with the continuous data they are receiving they are being kept updated in real-time on a wide range of areas, and this combined with the extra resources a virtual environment holds allows for a deeper study than simulators, yielding greater potential to enhance products and processes.
Types of Digital Twins
Digital twins come in various types with the only difference between them being the area of application. It is quite normal to find diverse types of digital twins co-existing inside the same virtual platform, system or process.
Let us see then different types of digital twins to get to know the differences and how these are applied.
- Component twins or Parts twins – the most diminutive samples of an operative component are the component twins which are the basic part of a digital twin, whereas parts twins are roughly similar but relate to components of slightly lesser importance
- Asset twins – when more than two components work in tandem they form what is called an asset. The interaction of the components can be studied thanks to the asset twins, then the data obtained is processed and converted into actionable insights
- System or Unit twins – thanks to these we are enabled to see how different assets come together to form a whole operative system, while furnishing visibility on the interplay of assets, and may even propose performance improvements
- Process twins – these reveal how systems interact together to create an entire production installation. One common question is if systems will all sync to operate at maximum efficiency, or if delays in one system would affect others. Process twins assist in finalising the exact timing schemes which finally affect overall effectiveness
Digital Twin Technology – History
The first printing that voiced the idea of digital twin technology back in 1991 was Mirror Words by David Gelernter, however the one attributable to actually utilise the concept of digital twins to production was Dr Michael Grieves in 2002, who during that time was at the University of Michigan.
Nevertheless, it was John Vickers from NASA who first introduced the term ‘digital twin’ in 2010. We can safely say though that NASA conceived this idea of digital twin when back in the 1960s they held replications of the original spacecraft which was used for study and simulations especially by NASA flight crews.
Digital Twin – Benefits
- Research & Design Betterment – more effective research and design of products is attained thanks to the use of digital twins, yielding abundance of data which info leads to insights helping organisations to refine products for example before starting production
- Enhanced Efficiency – Digital twins can assist in mirroring and monitoring production systems, even after a new product has already gone into production, while also keeping a watchful eye on to attaining and maintaining optimum efficiency throughout the entire manufacturing process
- Product end-of-life – digital twins can be also useful and can assist on decisions like what to do with products which reached their end-of-life cycle. Companies can ascertain which product materials can be gathered, also through recycling, and all this thanks to the digital twins
Digital Twin – Future & Way Forward
Existing operating models are undergoing fundamental changes. Asset-intensive industries are tweaking operating models in a disruptive way, thus a digital reinvention is also occurring, where integrated physical plus digital view of assets, equipment, facilities and processes are required. A critical part of that alinement are digital twins.
Digital twins will continue to yield the insights required to heighten products while increasing processes efficiency. Upcoming possibilities around digital twins are limitless as they are continuously acquiring new skills and capabilities, while more power is constantly being routed to their utilisation.
