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| Figure 1 Image source : credits: GE Power & Water - www.ge.com |
"A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical product or
process, used to understand and predict the physical counterpart’s
performance characteristics. Digital twins are used throughout the
product lifecycle to simulate, predict, and optimize the product and
production system before investing in physical prototypes and assets."
The concept of digital twin can be broadly understood using the Figure 1. General Electric manufactures wind turbines as part of their clean energy solutions. As can be seen in the figure, the physical wind turbine has a digital replica - its digital twin that behaves and works exactly as its physical counterpart . The great idea of the digital twin is its use of Internet of Things (IoT) and AI where real data from IoT sensors installed inside the physical turbine flows to the digital twin and something adjusted, optimised or calibrated on the digital twin can flow back to the physical device seamlessly. This way, digital replicas can be used to diagnose problems, simulate scenarios (like digital winds in figure above) and then calibrate the physical devise for optimized performance or maybe undertake preventive maintenance as predicted by the digital twin. This is a really transformational idea for many businesses and is likely to be adopted in many areas in the time to come. Gartner has identified the 'Digital Twin' concept as one of the top 10 strategic technology trends in 2018 [2] .
Read more about the 'Digital Twin' concept in this detailed recent article by Keith Shaw and Josh Fruhlinger. You can also watch this introductory video explaining the concept and this short video by Philips on how the idea of the 'digital twin' is slated to revolutionalize next generation healthcare.
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[1] Siemens - Digital Twin
[2]Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018
A very innovative technique to understand the real life mechanics.
ReplyDeleteSir, is the concept of holograms a part of digital twins or are they influenced by Artificial Intelligence ?
Adyut Anjuman
PGDFM 18-20
Adyut,
DeleteHolograms and Digital Twins are entirely different technologies. The hologram is a 3-D profile of an object which can be seen with the naked eye. But a Digital Twin of that physical object is connected to that physical object through a cloud-based system. In this case, this object will be equipped with some sensors which will collect real-time data, about the status, working and position of it.
But there’s no doubt that these two technologies can be linked in future.
Sir,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this blog post about ‘Digital Twins’ and letting me know that this kind of technology even exists.
But I think the challenge will lie in making this technology cheaper and making it available for smaller organizations so that they can also implement this and optimize their performance.
It is incredible that the idea of a digital twin can be applied to an entire country to deal with climate change. Though it may take more than three decades to complete, it will facilitate efficient use of energy and therefore will aid in reducing human carbon footprints at a much faster pace.
Thanks a ton for this interesting blog. The idea is really good for reducing the cost in prototype generation of a device. Sir I would like to ask that this technology can be misused to copy the designs of patent devices? Also in milliatry can this technology be used to take control over the opponent's weapons and suspected devices ?
ReplyDeleteVaishaly Shrimall
Healthcare is the sector that produces the digital twins of people which can be used to research the side effects of any new medical invention. But sir I want to know about the negative impacts of this digital twin?
ReplyDeleteHealthcare is the sector that produces the digital twins of people which can be used to research the side effects of any new medical invention. But sir I want to know about the negative impacts of this digital twin? Anamika 18062
ReplyDelete