A Digital Twin is the virtual copy of a physical object. The concept of the Digital Twin has been known since 2001. NASA engineers were the first to use Digital Twins to virtually test changes and updates to unreachable devices before physically implementing them on the real object. With the Internet of Things and the networking of all things, the potential of the digital twin is opening up for all industries: Combined with networked objects, sensors and their data, models of the real world are created that make it possible to reconstruct the past, control the present and predict the future.
The Definition of a Digital Twin
A Digital Twin is the digital representation of a material object or physical system. As a preliminary stage, these virtual images require the Internet of Things, in which sensors measure current states, send them as data over a network, and visualize them in a platform. While the Internet of Things is mainly about physical sensors and real-time measurement, the Digital Twin also offers new digital functionalities. In a Digital Twin, data is brought into a spatial relationship with the real world. In this way, objects can be monitored in the Twin, all past states can be stored and analysed and possible events can be predicted. A Digital Twin can also communicate with other virtual representations as well as higher levels of architecture to draw attention to previously unknown relationships.
Digital Twin for IoT: Using data to create business decisions and value
The Digital Twin is often described as the logical continuation of the Internet of Things. This is because the IoT lays the foundation for a Digital Twin: To create a digital image, networked systems are needed whose sensors provide input data. Within the Digital Twin all data converge - not only sensor data, but also all other important information about processes and conditions. While IoT platforms often only display the one actual state of a physical object, the Digital Twin puts all information into context. Based on the use at NASA, Digital Twins are already being used in industry, production and mechanical engineering. Simulations, tests, maintenance and even predictive maintenance is possible with virtual replicas of machines and complex systems. The application spectrum of the Digital Twin goes far beyond the B2B sector. Digitalisation can be introduced in numerous working and living spaces with the Twin. Especially in consumer applications, end customers will learn about the advantages of the Internet of Things.
Integrate IoT seamlessly: How Digital Twins bring fragmented ecosystems together into one IoT entity
Up to now, sensor data has been received and analyzed in different IoT platforms - this has resulted in isolated data silos that cannot communicate with each other or with other services outside IoT. The Digital Twin dissolves these silos: In the Digital Twin, data from all sources are integrated. This turns the flood of data into a usable data treasure: all essential data can be collected, put into context and analysed in a superordinate platform. The result is an interoperable system that overcomes the fragmentation of previous IoT systems and at the same time enables seamless integration into infrastructures and processes. IoT applications with Digital Twin technology that integrate into existing systems can not only overcome complex challenges in all industries, but also solve everyday problems of IoT-inexperienced users in easy-to-use applications. At the same time, Digital Twin leads to process automation.
We at DIGIMONDO see the Digital Twin as the next step for many IoT projects. Our latest software development is the first Digital Twin for the Internet of Things: a superior IoT platform that makes IoT data available to all users in a very simple way and can be used for automation. In this way, added value is gained from data. Find out more here.
