DIGITAL TWIN TECHNOLOGY

I welcome you all to another amazing session of technological updates. I hope you have been having great reads on various technological updates we have been discussing in previous threads. Today's thread will be focused on another amazing technological update known as "Digital Twin."


What is Digital Twin?
A digital twin is a virtual version of an object or system that spans its lifespan, is updated using real-time data, and aids decision-making through simulation, machine learning, and reasoning.
A digital twin can be a digital clone of a real thing, such as a jet engine or wind farm, or even larger items such as skyscrapers or entire towns.

How Digital Twin Technology Works.
Experts in applied mathematics or data science investigate the physics and operational data of a physical thing or system to create a mathematical model that replicates the original.

Digital twin engineers guarantee that the virtual computer model may receive input from sensors that collect data from the real-world version. This allows the digital version to replicate and simulate what is happening in real-time with the original version, providing an opportunity to obtain insights regarding performance and possible problems.
These sensors generate information regarding many elements of a physical object's performance, such as energy output, temperature, weather conditions, and so on. This information is subsequently sent to a processing system and applied to the digital copy.
A digital twin may be as complicated or as basic as you need it to be, with different quantities of data influencing how exactly the model matches the physical version in the real world.

The twin can be used in conjunction with a prototype to provide input on the product while it is produced, or it can operate as a prototype in its own right to simulate what could happen when a physical version is built.

Types of Digital Twin
The level of product magnification determines the type of digital twin. The main distinction between these twins is their field of application. It is typical for multiple types of digital twins to coexist within a system or process. Let's go through the different forms of digital twins and how they're used.

Component Twins/Part Twins
Component twins are the fundamental unit of a digital twin, representing the smallest example of a working component. Parts twins are the same thing, except they refer to significantly less important components.

Asset Twins
An asset is formed when two or more components work together to form a unit. Asset twins allow you to investigate the interplay of those components, resulting in a plethora of performance data that can be analysed and transformed into meaningful insights.

System or Unit Twins
The next degree of magnification is a system or unit twins, which allow you to see how various assets interact to build a fully functional system. System twins give visibility into asset interactions and may identify performance improvements.

Process Twins
Process twins, the macro level of magnification, show how systems interact to produce a complete manufacturing complex. Are all of those systems synced to run at top efficiency, or will delays in one system have an impact on others? Process twins can assist in determining the specific timing schemes that impact overall effectiveness.

Advantages of Digital Twin
Greater Efficiency - Even after a new product has entered production, digital twins can assist in mirroring and monitoring production systems to achieve and maintain optimal efficiency throughout the manufacturing process.

Better R&D - The utilization of digital twins allows for more effective product research and creation, with an abundance of data generated concerning expected performance results. This data can lead to insights that can help businesses make necessary product improvements before going into production.

Product end-of-life - Digital twins can also assist producers in determining what to do with items that have reached the end of their product lifespan and require final processing, such as recycling or other measures. They can decide which product materials can be gathered by employing digital twins.

Where Digital Twin can be used.
Digital twins are employed in many sectors for several applications and objectives. Among the prominent instances are:

Automotive - In the automobile sector, digital twins are used to collect and analyze operational data from vehicles to monitor their state in real-time and inform product enhancements.

Healthcare - The medical industry has benefited from digital twin in areas like organ donation, surgery training, and procedure de-risking. Systems have also been developed to simulate the movement of individuals through hospitals to track where infections may present and who may be at risk from contact.

Manufacture - Digital twins have the potential to increase production productivity and efficiency while decreasing throughput times.

Smart Cities - Cities may also benefit from digital twins in terms of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Virtual models can help to guide planning decisions and provide answers to the numerous complex difficulties that modern cities confront. Real-time reactions to problems, for example, can be informed by real-time information from digital twins, allowing assets such as hospitals to respond to a crisis.