The use of digitial twins (DTs) in industry has become a growing trend in recent years, allowing improvement of the life cycle of any process by taking advantage of the relationship between the ...physical and virtual worlds. Existing literature posits several challenges for building DTs, as well as some proposals for overcoming them. However, in the vast majority of the cases, the architectures and technologies presented are strongly bounded to the domain where the DTs are applied. This article proposes the FIWARE Ecosystem, combining its catalog of components and smart data models as a solution for the development of any DT. We also provide a use case to show how to use FIWARE for building DTs through a complete example of a parking DT. We conclude that the FIWARE Ecosystem constitutes a real reference option for developing DTs in any domain.
Digital Twins have been in the focus of research in recent years, trying to achieve the vision of Industry 4.0. In the domain of industrial energy systems, they are applied to facilitate a flexible ...and optimized operation. With the help of Digital Twins, the industry can participate even stronger in the ongoing renewable energy transition. Current Digital Twin implementations are often application-specific solutions without general architectural concepts and their structures and namings differ, although the basic concepts are quite similar. For this reason, we analyzed concepts, architectures, and frameworks for Digital Twins in the literature to develop a technology-independent Generic Digital Twin Architecture (GDTA), which is aligned with the information technology layers of the Reference Architecture Model Industry 4.0 (RAMI4.0). This alignment facilitates a common naming and understanding of the proposed architectural structure. A proof-of-concept shows the application of Semantic Web technologies for instantiating the proposed GDTA for a use case of a Packed-Bed Thermal Energy Storage (PBTES).
Zinc rotary kiln is an important equipment in the nonferrous metallurgical industry. Due to unclear internal working conditions, its operation based on experience is random. Digital twin (DT) with ...virtual-real integration and synchronization ability is a necessary method to realize real-time and accurate monitoring for key variables, while its nowadays practical application face challenge about accuracy and consistency. Therefore, this article proposes a DT driven soft sensing method for key variables in rotary kiln. First, a thermodynamics and chemical reactions coupling model is built after analyzing the mechanism in kiln. Second, key parameters of DT were identified through analysis of limited and multisource data to ensure its consistency. Finally, in DT deployment stage, to realize the DT soft-sensing real-timely, a model reduction and DT distributed computing method was proposed to improve simulation timeliness. Practical application proved that soft sensing method based on DT can accurately and effectively obtain real-time monitoring results of key variables in the rotary kiln.
Mobile artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) refers to the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) algorithms deployed at mobile edge networks to automate the information ...creation process while fulfilling the requirements of end users. Mobile AIGC has recently attracted phenomenal attentions and can be a key enabling technology for an emerging application, called human digital twin (HDT). HDT empowered by the mobile AIGC is expected to revolutionize the personalized healthcare by generating rare disease data, modeling high-fidelity digital twin, building versatile testbeds, and providing 24/7 customized medical services. To promote the development of this new breed of paradigm, in this article, we propose a system architecture of mobile AIGC-driven HDT and highlight the corresponding design requirements and challenges. Moreover, we illustrate two use cases, i.e., mobile AIGC-driven HDT in customized surgery planning and personalized medication. In addition, we conduct an experimental study to prove the effectiveness of the proposed mobile AIGC-driven HDT solution, which shows a particular application in a virtual physical therapy teaching platform. Finally, we conclude this article by briefly discussing several open issues and future directions.
In recent years there has been increased demand for readiness and availability metrics across many industries and especially in national defense to enable data‐driven decision making at all levels of ...planning, maintenance, and operations, and in leveraging integrated models that inform stakeholders of current operational system health and performance metrics. The digital twin (DT) has been identified as a promising approach for deploying these models to fielded systems although several challenges exist in wide adoption and implementation. Two challenges examined in this article are that the nature of DT development is a system‐specific endeavor, and the development is usually an additional effort that begins after initial system fielding. A fundamental challenge with DT development, which sets it apart from traditional models, is the DT itself is treated as a separate system, and therefore the physical asset/DT construct becomes a system‐of‐systems problem. This article explores how objectives in DT development align with those of model‐based systems engineering (MBSE), and how the MBSE process can answer questions necessary to define the DT. The key benefits to the approach are leveraging work already being performed during system synthesis and DT development is pushed earlier in a system's lifecycle. This article contributes to the definition and development processes for DTs by proposing a DT development model and path, a method for scoping and defining requirements for a DT, and an approach to integrate DT and system development. An example case study of a Naval unmanned system is presented to illustrate the contributions.
Robotic arms for industrial applications rely on expensive, complex solutions for high-precision positioning error compensation. Digital twins (DTs) provide virtual representations of physical assets ...to optimize their engineering performance, which helps address the above issues. To address this problem, this article proposes a DT-driven 3-D position information mutuality and positioning error compensation for robotic arm. A DT model is developed and a virtual sensor is modeled geometrically. Information exchange between the physical and virtual sensor enables the comparison of the actual and target arm pose. Through closed-loop alignment of the physical sensor data with the virtual output, the arm joints are dynamically adjusted to reduce positioning errors. Information mutuality significantly reduces the amount of calculation necessary to determine the robotic arm's actual angle of motion. Experimental results from various positions have confirmed the efficacy of the method, with a remarkable 81.23% reduction in positioning error.
This paper introduces a methodology for information modelling and analysis of physical manufacturing processes for digital twins (DTs). It aims to establish a comprehensive and fundamental ...understanding of manufacturing processes regarding the specific purpose of the DT. Through this methodology, information entities within the manufacturing process that can be represented in DTs, along with their essential attributes, are systematically identified. To achieve this, an information model is firstly proposed to define such entities, termed as representative information. The attributes and hierarchy of entities are formulated based on a requirements analysis of the DT lifecycle. An Integration Definition for Process Modelling 0 (IDEF0) model, Petri nets, and a literature-based identification process are applied to represent the manufacturing process’s workflow and identify information entities. Moreover, the relative importance of representing each information entity in a DT is evaluated by integrating domain-specific knowledge with the specific purpose of the DT. Three types of information analysis are suggested, each with its corresponding methods: empirical analysis, theoretical analysis, and experimental analysis. Specifically, this study explores the material extrusion (MEX) process of the Prusa i3 MK3 printer, resulting in an information model consisting of 128 entities including 21 components, 25 activities and 82 properties. These information entities and associated attributes provide a reference for selecting and synchronizing specific physical information in a DT for estimating dimensional accuracy during the MEX process.
•A manufacturing process information model is established for digital twin lifecycle.•Identifying information entities within the manufacturing process for DTs is studied.•Three methods are suggested and specified for the information analysis process.•An information model for material extrusion process for DTs is developed.
Abstract
For the problems of the traditional workshop control system, such as closed information and untimely delivery, the web-based digital twin workshop control system is designed from the concept ...of the digital twin. According to the physical entities in the workshop, the corresponding digital twin model is constructed, and the design of the whole process, from the collection of workshop data to the application, is completed. Finally, the system is applied to a small workshop, and the results show that the digital twin-based workshop control system could significantly improve the workshop’s productivity.
Remaining useful fatigue life monitoring of wind turbine drivetrains is important. However, the implementation of real‐time monitoring often faces efficiency and accuracy challenges. In order to ...resolve this, this paper proposes a vibration‐based damage monitoring digital twin (VBDM‐DT) that enables the online intelligent evaluation of wind turbine gearboxes, using gear tooth surface durability as an example fatigue mode. The VBDM‐DT integrates a random wind load model, a high‐fidelity dynamics model, and a fatigue damage model. The random wind load model takes the wind speed from the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) as input to estimate the input torque of the drivetrain in real time. Simultaneously, VBDM‐DT uses the vibration signals from the condition monitoring system (CMS) to intelligently calibrate the dynamics model, allowing it to be continuously adjusted and optimized in response to actual vibrations. The fatigue damage model takes the real‐time dynamic loads estimated by the high‐fidelity dynamic model as input to achieve real‐time fatigue damage monitoring of key components in the wind turbine gearbox. Applying the VBDM‐DT model to a 2 MW wind turbine gearbox, the results indicate that the model provides satisfactory accuracy in estimating input loads and good adaptability in intelligent calibration of the dynamic model. Based on this model, the fatigue life estimation for gears and bearings is more credible and reliable.
The permeability of porous rock is a crucial indicator evaluating its ability to allow liquids to pass through it. However, challenges are always encountered in measurement and prediction of ...permeability, including the complicated process of laboratory experiments and the refined 3D numerical reconstruction. In order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of permeability prediction, the digital twin modeling technology is proposed to generate homologous and heterogeneous digital sandstone models based on a single two-dimensional image in this paper. Comparison of the CT reconstruction with the digital twin of sandstone indicates that they are very similar in complementary solid-phase morphology of porous media, global parameters (total porosity, fractal dimension, tortuosity), and local parameters (porosity of sequence layer, pore and throat characteristics, coordination number). In addition, the permeability of CT reconstruction and ten digital twins are analyzed by using the Lattice Boltzmann Method. The results show that the permeability of digital twins is very stable and close to the CT reconstruction at three orthogonal directions. The findings in this study may provide an accurate, stable, rapid and economic method for predicting the permeability of porous media.
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