Background
Digital Twin refers to a virtual model or digital replica of living or non-living physical entities. In general, the term is linked to smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.
The concept of the twin is back to Apollo program 1960s. NASA created “twins” of the Command Module, Lunar Module and Lunar Rover. The twins all stayed on the ground but were used extensively for maintenance, support, and troubleshooting.
Back to literature, the term used for the first time in by NASA in 2012 state “Digital Twin an integrated multi-physics, multi-scale, probabilistic simulation of a vehicle or system that uses the best available physical models, sensor updates, fleet history, etc., to mirror the life of its flying twin” (Shafto et al., 2012).
Recently, with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), the term has gained in popularity. In addition, many large corporations (e.g., Microsoft, IBM Watson, Cisco, Siemens, GE) are showcasing the current and potential applications of Digital Twin in the industry.
Digital Twin Definition
The common definition is “digital replica of a physical asset”. But, what does digital twin do?
This is important “it activates data, to power better decision making”
So, the fact is digital twin is not only a digital replica of a physical asset. It’s way more beyond that. Digital Twin is the data that supercharges its value, it helps users do more with less, and provide them with insights, scenarios and representations.
What is Digital Twin of a Building?
It’s a digital replica of potential and actual physical assets, processes, living entities, spaces, systems, and devices in a building. Digital Twin of a building lights up operator and users with data and information to optimise building performance and improve the decision-making.
The twin model must have static and dynamic data integrated to power up building :
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- Static could be the information model of the building.
- Dynamic is how we collect operational information throughout building life cycle.
So, I would say Digital Twin of a building is a bridge between both Physical & Digital world that enables building users to monitor & control building entities, send and receive data, and continuously inform the user about the actual state of the asset.
Summary
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- It is a term not a tool.
- A bridge between Physical & Digital environment.
- The term used for the first time by NASA in 2012.
- A digital representation of static and dynamic data.
- It is the data that lights up users.
I would like to leave you with some YouTube videos.
Reference
SHAFTO, M., CONROY, M., DOYLE, R., GLAESSGEN, E., KEMP, C., LEMOIGNE, J. & WANG, L. 2012. Modeling, simulation, information technology & processing roadmap. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
C. F. D.L 2020. DATA LEADERSHIP GUIDANCE NOTE: DIGITAL TWIN. In: COUNCIL, S. C. (ed.).
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