Imagine being able to put your goods, processes, or facilities through a series of tests before committing to them permanently with something called – Digital Twin.
Sounds unnatural? But it is not for real!
Basically, for this purpose, we have Digital Twin Software Technology.
Globally, businesses are already developing and using this technology to enhance their operations, supply chains, facility management, and other areas.
The digital twin market is worth $8.605B in 2022 and is expected to grow at 42.6% CAGR to reach $137.67B by 2030.
Fortune Business Insight
Key elements driving this expansion include the increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing and the need to lower product development costs and times.
What is a Digital Twin Software?
A digital twin is a simulation created to mimic the real thing in every detail.
Sensors are installed in the item (wind turbine) to collect data on its most essential functions.
These sensors collect information about the physical object’s operation, including energy production, temperature, weather, etc.
This information is then sent to a computer, where it may be used to modify the digital replica.
Informed by this information, the digital representation may be used to conduct simulations, investigate performance concerns, and brainstorm potential changes, all to gain essential insights that can be applied to the real thing.
The History of Digital Twin
In his book Mirror Worlds, published in 1991, David Gelernter proposed the concept of digital twin technology.
However, in 2002, Dr. Michael Grieves (then a professor at the University of Michigan) is credited for publicly unveiling the digital twin software idea and applying it to manufacturing for the first time.
John Vickers of NASA coined the phrase “digital twin” in 2010.
However, the basic concept of creating a digital duplicate of anything has been introduced previously to learn more about the real thing.
NASA was one of the first organizations to use this software in the 1960s.
It was used to create exact copies of spacecraft for study and simulation purposes by NASA employees on flight crews.
Advantages of Using Digital Twin
Digital twin software tools might be helpful in a wide variety of settings.
They could even spur innovation in specific disciplines. Increased efficiency is a significant benefit.
Firms can enhance arrangement, control supervision problems and specify lackings by developing a digital replica of a bodily purchase and examining its data in real-time.
The following are 5 major benefits of using this technology-
- Risk Evaluation and Manufacturing Cycles Sped Up
- Predictive Servicing
- Real-time and Off-site Inspections
- Enhanced Cooperation Among Teams
- Evidence-based Budgetary Judgment
Risk Evaluation and Manufacturing Cycles Sped Up
Because of this innovation, businesses can now verify the quality of their products long before they hit store shelves.
Digital twin software allows engineers to see potential problems with a manufacturing process before it happens by simulating that process in advance.
Engineers may cause chaos to create hypothetical situations, observe how the system responds, and develop defenses against them.
In addition to boosting risk assessment and product development speeds, this new feature also makes manufacturing lines more dependable.
Predictive Servicing
The twin system’s Internet of Things (IoT) sensors instantly provide large amounts of data, allowing organizations to analyze the data to spot issues proactively.
By reducing maintenance costs and increasing production line efficiency, this capability allows firms to plan predictive maintenance better.
Real-time and Off-site Inspections
Gaining a complete picture of a complex physical system in real-time is tough.
On the other hand, a duplicate may be accessed from anywhere, allowing users to track and adjust system performance from afar.
Enhanced Cooperation Among Teams
Technicians or other administrative team members who work on the technology of making twins digitally may spend more time collaborating across teams.
Thanks to process automation and constant access to system data. Without the main features of this twin technology, this won’t be possible.
Evidence-based Budgetary Judgment
A digital duplicate of a real-world item might include price information like the price of components and labor.
Large amounts of real-time data and sophisticated analytics let firms decide quickly and accurately whether or not changes to the manufacturing value chain will be profitable.
How Does a Digital Twin Work?
A digital twin is a computer-generated model that accurately mimics a physical object, encompassing its characteristics, capabilities, and behaviors.
The object’s smart sensors record data in real-time to create a digital representation.
The model may be utilized throughout an asset’s existence, from creation and testing through use and retirement.
Multiple technologies combine to create a digital “twin” of a physical object. Some examples are as follows-
The Internet of Things
The term “Internet of Things” describes a group of interconnected devices and infrastructures enabling them to share data with the cloud.
As a result of low-cost computer processors and improved communication technologies, billions of devices are now online.
One best advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) is information from the sensors are used by digital twin simulation to replicate physical properties in virtual form.
The information is sent into a system or dashboard that displays live data.
Machines Learning & Artificial Intelligence
Computer science’s subfield, “artificial intelligence” (AI), focuses on mimicking human intellect in learning, problem-solving, and pattern recognition.
Machine learning (ML), a discipline within artificial intelligence, is expertly crafted to develop robust algorithms and statistical models. Its primary goal is to enable computers to perform tasks without explicit instructions—namely, observations of data and inferences drawn from those observations.
To analyze the massive amounts of sensor data and find meaningful patterns, digital twin solutions use machine learning algorithms.
Information on improving performance, upkeep, emission outputs, and efficiency may be gleaned using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML).
Digital Twin Simulations
There are several significant distinctions between digital twin software and virtual reality or model-based simulations.
Offline optimization and the design process are two typical applications of simulation. Designers use simulations to test out different iterations of a product.
In contrast, digital twins are rich in simulation, dynamic, and constantly updatable virtual twin worlds. Both their scope and their utility have increased.
Types of Digital Twin
Different digital twin simulations are created depending on the scale at which a product is being seen.
The scope of their use most distinguishes these two siblings from one another.
It is not uncommon for many digital twin solutions of a given system or process to coexist.
Let us look through the many kinds of twins and their uses to grasp the field as a whole better-
Digital Twin Components
A minor working example of a component is a “component twin,” the fundamental unit of a digital twin simulation.
A part’s twin is similar to another position. However, it refers to something of lesser value.
Asset Twin
When many parts function in tandem, they are considered an asset.
Using asset twins, you can analyze how different parts work together and gather a lot of performance data that can be turned into valuable insights.
System or Unit Twin
Unit or system twins provide an even finer detail, revealing the interdependencies between various system components.
System twins reveal the interplay between assets and make it possible to provide suggestions for improving performance.
Process Twin
Process twin magnifies everything to a macro level to see how all the parts of a manufacturing facility fit together.
How well do these systems work together, and how do delays in one system influence the others?
With the aid of process twins, you can pinpoint the optimal timing schemes that significantly impact efficiency.
Examples of Digital Twin
The widespread use of digital twin solutions is changing how businesses run and manage their assets. Some real-world applications of twin technology are as follows-
Industrial Production
One of the most notable sectors where twin simulation is influencing operations in manufacturing.
The auto industry’s use of this technology has significantly altered the production procedure.
Each Ford car model has seven digital twin solutions under development. Each identical pair handles a unique manufacturing stage from conceptualization to construction to management.
They also employ digital models for the production process, the factories, and the customers’ experience.
The twin technology reliably identifies energy leaks and highlights potential savings and gains in manufacturing facility efficiency.
Market in Health Care
In addition to enhancing operations in manufacturing, softwares are also helping to revolutionize the healthcare industry.
By creating digital duplicates of patients or their organs, doctors may test different treatment options in simulated settings before committing to them.
The healthcare industry uses the twin technology and data collected from sensors the size of bandages to treat patients better.
Power Sources
Digital twins are helpful in several industries, including the energy industry. Productivity at GE’s wind farm has grown by as much as 20%.
Sensors installed on each turbine send data in real-time to their digital twin, allowing for more efficient designs and even suggesting tweaks to make each active turbine more productive.
Similar Accommodations
The hotel industry is improving the layout of kitchens and dining spaces by simulating real-life occurrences and scenarios.
To better understand how their guests utilize their facilities and provide them with individualized service, hotels are also embracing modern technologies.
The Twin Areas
If the digital twin of individual facilities like factories, hotels, and wind farms can boost productivity, imagine what they might do for a whole municipality.
Singapore and Shanghai have a full twin technology that aids with traffic and energy efficiency.
Smart cities are rapidly emerging as a viable option for lowering pollution levels and enhancing citizen well-being.
Digital twins have several potential uses, including influencing the design, implementation, and improvement of various systems and procedures.
A digital twin dramatically improves the efficiency of managing assets and infrastructure. Imagine how digital twin technology may impact your business processes.
How to Build A Digital Twin
Creating a digital twin involves three steps: planning, modeling, and platform enhancement.
Creating A Whole Plan
To successfully implement digital twins, it is essential to have all of the relevant parties on the same page.
The sorts of clones to be pursued, the sequence in which they will be constructed to optimize value and reusability, the rate at which their capabilities will improve, and the ownership and governance structures should all be laid out in advance.
These features are necessary for businesses to create isolated single-use twins with little buy-in from the company and no mechanism for attributing use case value back to the twin.
Leaders may use the responses to eight essential questions to sketch out this plan.
Form A Digital Duplicate
Now that they have a plan, the project team may spend three to six months creating the software’s core functionality.
The construction stage starts with the assembly of the primary data product.
Teams working with data do data engineering to improve the quality and use of both organized and unstructured datasets.
This opens the door to visualizations and lets data scientists establish some use cases to gather more information, uncover hidden patterns, and birth a prototype digital twin modeling.
It is optional for businesses to have flawless data or cutting-edge IT infrastructure.
Businesses of varied sizes and technological sophistication have built digital twin solutions.
Strengthen Capacities
Once the digital twin’s first use cases are operational, it is time to extend its capabilities by adding more data layers and analytics to enable new use cases.
Companies often utilize AI and sophisticated modeling approaches to take their twin beyond depicting assets, people, or processes and offering simulations and recommendations.
Disadvantages of Digital Twin
Digital twins may give substantial advantages, but developing and managing them takes time and effort. Following are two major disadvantages that you might need to know about-
Tech-Based Systems
Mainly, digital twin solutions need more infrastructure.
This technology needs a model-based environment as interoperable assets are complex.
Therefore, this may be a challenge. A corporation without a digital infrastructure must build one.
This twin technology needs an integrated software environment.
The software maintaining the twin’s lifespan must be in sync, and data must flow easily between platforms.
Creating optimum circumstances may be difficult. Most companies use incompatible software and technologies for fundamental tasks. Building such friendships takes time and effort.
Maintenance
Digital duplication requires continual maintenance. Operational conditions, age, wear and tear, and other factors might cause a physical object to deviate from its digital counterpart.
A digital twin modeling must be updated to match physical asset changes to be worthwhile.
Maintaining digital assets takes time and effort. Many initiatives fail because digital assets are treated differently than physical ones.
Supporting the digital twin solutions requires real-time monitoring and recording.
The twin technology should indicate how various operational conditions will influence the physical twin before the latter need to cope with them in the real world.
The Future of Digital Twin Software
The current paradigms for doing business are undergoing a significant shift.
Industries that rely heavily on physical assets are undergoing a digital transformation as new, disruptive business models emerge, necessitating a holistic understanding of their operations’ physical and digital aspects.
The use of this technology digitally is crucial to this readjustment.
Due to the ever-increasing commitment of computational resources to their development and use, the potential of digital twin modeling is boundless.
As a result, the twin technology is constantly improving their knowledge and abilities, which allows them to keep providing the data necessary to enhance goods and streamline procedures.
Final Thoughts on Digital Twin
In the commercial world, digital twin software tools are already indispensable. The technology, however, is available to every business, regardless of its degree of digital development.
That is why digital twin solutions will rapidly rise in importance as instruments for enhancing process and choice optimization across all sectors.
Business leaders are not just putting money into digital twin modeling now. Still, they also see the business metaverse as more of a “when” question than an “if.”
These initiatives have the potential to yield significant benefits soon by allowing businesses to do data curation once for hundreds of use cases that give in-depth insights on complicated business challenges and optimize results in real time.
These expenditures set the stage for the corporate metaverse, revolutionizing business practices across all sectors and enabling companies to exploit the opportunities presented by data and artificial intelligence fully.
A digital twin is an up-to-date, virtual version of a physical thing or system that may be used for simulation, machine learning, and reasoning to improve decision-making throughout the object’s or system’s lifespan.
Using digital twin technology, we can simulate real-world transportation infrastructure including highways, bridges, and rail networks. Using these digital twins, we can model how these systems will respond to a variety of situations, such as heavy traffic, adverse weather, or unexpected repair.
Several sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, real estate, and aerospace, are beginning to see the benefits of digital twin technology. It is a new kind of technology that is going to have a major impact on how businesses operate in the future.
Virtual Reality creates an immersive virtual environment, whereas Digital Twin technology copies a genuine object, system, or process. These technologies differ in graphics, interactions, data sources, commercial usage, and hardware.
