Digital Twin - what it is and why it is revolutionizing Industrial IoT
Contributed By - Hari Gottipati
If an engineer needs to monitor the condition of thousands of oil pipes and connections buried beneath the Alaskan snow - does he need to be physically present in the snow? Imagine where he can sit in an office and monitor the virtual replica of pipes for any failures. This is very much possible when we replicate a dynamic digital replica of physical assets, processes, and systems. Digital Twin represents the convergence of the physical world and the virtual world where every product will get a digital representation. The digital representation provides the real-time status of a physical object throughout its life cycle. Right from the design phase to the deployment phase, companies can simulate the real-time status of their products.
What is Digital Twin?
With the Internet revolution, we have seen the digitization process taking off to a whole new level. Books have been transitioned to eBooks and Audiobooks, music to MP3, TV to IPTV, and TV series to web series. Think of the Digital Twins concept as similar to physical objects, but not exactly the same way. Think of a video game where you can customize your on-screen avatar where it is static. However, using a video camera and depth sensor, the Microsoft Kinect gaming console can detect your motion and make your avatar into a dynamic avatar by expressing you and your actions in a video game. Kinect transforms your static avatar into a sort of digital twin, but in order to make a pure digital twin, the avatar needs to reflect you in a real time. Imagine if there is a way where it could change your avatar’s outfit automatically when you change your clothes or if you feel dizzy in real life, your avatar is also going to feel dizzy in the digital environment.
NASA and mirrored twin
The concept of Digital Twin was introduced by Dr. Michael Grieves at the University of Michigan in 2002. However, NASA used the physical twin, the precursor to digital twin, during the early days of space exploration. It created a mirror (pairing) system where a copy of the Apollo 13 shuttle and its systems were kept in reverse. This was dramatized in the movie Apollo 13 in a scene where needed parts were dumped out on a table before astronauts ran out of oxygen. Engineers on the ground found a solution by simulating conditions in a mirrored system. It was almost 50 years back. Currently, NASA uses digital twins heavily to find the fixes for its aircraft.
How does it work?
With IoT and sensors, we can replicate the virtual objects/digital twins of physical assets. By incorporating various sensors into physical assets, we can gather real-time data and recreate the state of physical assets in the virtual environment.
Equipping machines with sensors are not new and neither is creating models. CAD programs have long been able to create models and manufacturers can simulate productions using logistics and process calculations. Here comes the digital town with a difference. It automates the simulation process in real time with the information emitted by sensors. A digital twin continuously receives the data from multiple sensors and updates itself to represent the real-time working condition of a physical asset. It consists of 3 things - a physical asset in real space, a virtual product in digital space and the convergence of physical asset and virtual product with real-time data.
Sensor types
There are many sensors that can gather and transmit the information about a physical asset:
Environmental monitoring sensors - temperature, water quality, humidity, carbon dioxide, oxygen, ozone monitor, air pollution, dust, and gas sensors.
Sensing sensors - motion, vibration, collision, pressure, speed, altitude sensors
Physical sensors that monitor water, noise, power, etc.
Infrared sensors
Optical sensors
Accelerometer, Gyrometer sensors
Image sensors
Level sensors
Revolutionizing industrial IoT
Digital twins are being used in various industries to optimize the operation and maintenance of physical assets and manufacturing processes. These are a part of the industrial IoT, where physical objects can interact with other objects in the factory and people virtually. Digital twins are revolutionizing industrial IoT for the reasons listed below:
Gain insights into the real-world usage of the products.
Reduce the operating cost.
Advanced ways of asset maintenance and management.
More insights into customer behavior and preferences.
Efficient production control.
Simulate the results way before the physical product development and deployment.
Continuous refinement of designs and models.
Future
According to IDC, by 2020, 60% of manufacturers will use digital twins of connected products with analytics to track usage and performance for better product and service quality. According to IoT implementation survey by Gartner in March 2018, 48% of organizations that are implementing IoT said they are already using or plan to use digital twins in 2018. The number of participating organizations using digital twins will triple by 2022. According to a new report issued by Deloitte, the global market for digital twins is expected to grow 38 percent annually to reach $16 billion by 2023.