Enabling Technologies and Tools For Digital Twin: Journal of Manufacturing Systems March 2021

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Enabling technologies and tools for digital twin
Article in Journal of Manufacturing Systems · March 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsy.2019.10.001
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Journal of Manufacturing Systems xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Manufacturing Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmansys
Enabling technologies and tools for digital twin

Qinglin Qia, Fei Taoa,*, Tianliang Hub, Nabil Anwerc, Ang Liud, Yongli Weib, Lihui Wange,
A.Y.C. Neef
a
School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China
b
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China
c
LURPA, ENS Paris-Saclay, Universite Paris-Sud, Universite Paris-Saclay, 94235, Cachan, France
d
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2053, Australia
e
Department of Production Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
f
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Digital twin is revolutionizing industry. Fired by sensor updates and history data, the sophisticated models can
Digital twin mirror almost every facet of a product, process or service. In the future, everything in the physical world would
Five-dimension model be replicated in the digital space through digital twin technology. As a cutting-edge technology, digital twin has
Enabling technologies received a lot of attention. However, digital twin is far from realizing their potential, which is a complex system
Enabling tools
and long-drawn process. Researchers must model all the different parts of the objects or systems. Varied types of
data needed to be collected and merged. Many researchers and participators in engineering are not clear which
technologies and tools should be used. 5-dimension digital twin model provides reference guidance for under-
standing and implementing digital twin. From the perspective of 5-dimension digital twin model, this paper tries
to investigate and summarize the frequently-used enabling technologies and tools for digital twin to provide
technologies and tools references for the applications of digital twin in the future.
1. Introduction to work with computers effectively. With the development of Internet

and advanced control technologies in the 1990s, business digitalization
Currently, digitalization has become a consensus, especially digital provided new revenue and value-producing opportunities for en-
twin, precise virtual copies of machines or systems, is revolutionizing terprises [5]. After entering the 21 st century, the New IT (e.g., IoT,
industry [1]. Many companies and fields already use digital twin to spot cloud computing, big data, and AI) makes it possible to progressively
problems and increase efficiency [2]. With the advancement of in- converge the physical and virtual worlds (i.e., the cyber-physical in-
formation technologies, especially the emergence of new generation of tegration [6]) toward the digitalization of industrial ecology.
information technologies (New ITs) such as Internet of things (IoT), Digital twin (DT) provides a unique means to achieve the cyber-
cloud computing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), the physical integration, which is a notion embraced by more and more
digitalization process is greatly accelerating. Through the convergence enterprises [7]. DT means an organic whole of physical asset (or phy-
of the physical and virtual worlds, digitalization is becoming one of the sical entity) as well as its digitized representation, which mutually
main drivers of innovation in all sectors [3]. As shown in Fig. 1, the communicate, promote, and co-evolve with each other through bidir-
evolution of digitalization has gone through four progressive stages: ectional interactions [8]. Through various digitization technologies, the
digital enablement, digitalization assistance, digital control and link, entities, behaviors, and relations in the physical world are digitized
and cyber-physical integration. Digital enablement refers to the process holistically to create high-fidelity virtual models [9,10]. Such virtual
of converting paper document into digital forms without making any models depend on real-world data from the physical world to formulate
different-in-kind changes to the process itself [4,5]. Due to the limita- their real-time parameters, boundary conditions, and dynamics, leading
tion of digitalization tools, initially, only the most essential information to a more representative reflection of the corresponding physical enti-
is digitalized for storage, processing, and transfer. With the extensive ties [10,11]. DT is attracting attention from both academia and in-
applications of CAX technologies (e.g., CAD, CAE, and CAM) in the dustry. Gartner classified DT as one of the top 10 technological trends
1980s, the paradigm of digitalization shifted toward assisting engineers with strategic values for 3 years from 2017 to 2019 [12]. In 2018,
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ftao@buaa.edu.cn (F. Tao).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2019.10.001
Received 29 August 2019; Received in revised form 5 October 2019; Accepted 7 October 2019
0278-6125/ © 2019 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Qinglin Qi, et al., Journal of Manufacturing Systems, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2019.10.001
Q. Qi, et al. Journal of Manufacturing Systems xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 1. Evolvement of digitalization paradigm.
Lockheed Martin listed DT as one of the six game-changing technologies 2. A brief overview of digital twin
for the defense industry [12].
DT has many strategic benefits. In particular, DT provides a unique 2.1. History of digital twin
way to reflect a physical entity in the digital world with respect to its
shape, position, gesture, status, and motion [13]. Together with the Strictly speaking, DT is not a completely new concept. It is rooted in
sensory data acquisition, big data analytics, as well as AI and machine some existing technologies [18], such as 3D modeling, system simula-
learning, DT can be used for monitoring, diagnostics, prognostics and tion, digital prototyping (including geometric, functional, and beha-
optimization [14,15]. Through the assessment of ongoing states, the vioral prototyping), etc. The increasing popularity of DT reflects the
diagnosis of historical problems, and the prediction of future trends, DT inevitable trend that the virtual world and the physical world are be-
can provide more comprehensive supports for the decision-making of a coming increasingly linked to each other and integrated as a whole.
wide spectrum of operations. Once integrated with the digital re- From the conception of “a virtual, digital equivalent to a physical
presentation of facilities, environments, and people, DT can be used for product” by Grieves [11] to the debut of DT thanks to national aero-
the training of users, operators, maintainers, and service providers [16]. nautics and space administration (NASA) and air force research la-
Through DT, it is also possible to digitize expert experience, which can boratory (AFRL) [10], DT represents the breakthrough of numerous
be documented, transferred, and modified throughout an enterprise to limitations (e.g., data acquisition, digital description, and computer
reduce the knowledge gap. Through simulation tools and virtual reality performance and algorithms, etc.). Then, DT was applied in Industry
tools, DT can deepen the operator's understandings of complex physical 4.0 by Siemens in 2016. As more and more researchers devoted to the
entities and processes. research of DT, the number of relevant publications begun to grow
DT is an effective means to improve enterprises productivity and exponentially [19]. Tao et al. [20] proposed the concept of DT shop-
efficiency, as well as to reduce cost and time [17]. The current studies floor in January 2017 and discussed the characteristics, composition
mainly focus on the macro level in terms of framework, process, and and operation mechanism and key technologies of DT shop-floor, which
know-what as opposed to the micro level in terms of specific technol- provided theoretical support for the application of DT in the manu-
ogies, tools, and knowhow. Despite a strong desire from small and facturing. Later then, to promote the further applications of DT in more
medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to incorporate DT into their daily fields, Tao et al. [21] extended the existing 3-dimension DT model and
businesses, most of the SMEs are unfamiliar with the key technologies added two dimensions (DT data and services) to propose a five-di-
and tools of DT. Moreover, DT is a highly complex system that requires mension DT model. Some milestones of DT development are shown in
a long-term process to orientate, operate, and optimize. To facilitate Fig. 2.
researchers and practitioners to implement DTs, this paper presents a Various definitions of DT appeared, which are reviewed by Tao
summary of the key enabling technologies and tools for DT. et al. [19] and Negri et al. [22]. At present, the two most widely ac-
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a cepted definitions were given by Grieves and NASA. NASA defined DT
brief overview of DT. Section 3 analyzes the ideal potential functions for a space vehicle as “A Digital Twin is an integrated multi-physics,
and practice emphasis. Sections 4 and 5 present the key enabling multiscale, probabilistic simulation of an as-built vehicle or system that uses
technologies and tools for DT. Finally, Section 6 draws conclusions and the best available physical models, sensor updates, fleet history, etc., to
outlines future work. mirror the life of its corresponding flying twin” [23]. In 2014, Grieves
published the white paper about DT, according to which, the basic DT
model consists of three main parts: (a) physical products in Real Space,
2
Fig. 2. The milestones of DT development.
(b) virtual products in Virtual Space, as well as (c) the connections of data or come from domain experts.
and information that tie the virtual and real products together [11]. In es-
sence, DT involves creating a virtual model for a physical entity in the 2.2.3. Digital twin data
digital form in order to simulate entity behaviors, monitor the ongoing Twin data is a key driver of DT [12]. DT deals with multi-temporal
status, recognize internal and external complexities, detect abnormal scale, multi-dimension, multi-source, and heterogeneous data. Some
patterns, reflect system performance, and predict future trend [24]. data is obtained from physical entities, including static attribute data
Currently, the three-dimension DT model originally defined by Grieves and dynamic condition data. Some data is generated by virtual models,
is most applied. However, with the continuous expansion and up- which reflects the simulation result. Some data is obtained from ser-
grading of application requirements, the development and applications vices, which describes the service invocation and execution. Some data
of DT present new trends and demands. For example, the applications is knowledge, which is provided by domain experts or extracted from
of DT have gradually expanded into the civilian fields in recent years existing data. Some data is fusion data, which is generated as a result of
from the military and aerospace fields in the initial stage. With the fusion of all the aforementioned data.
expansion of the application fields, DT is faced with more service de-
mands from different fields, different levels of users, and different 2.2.4. Services in digital twin
businesses. Meanwhile, the Internet of everything provides conditions Against the background of product-service integration in all aspects
for realizing the cyber-physical interaction and data integration of DT. of modern society, more and more enterprises begin to realize the im-
Therefore, on the basis of the DT model proposed by Grieves, Tao et al. portance of service [27]. Service is an essential component of DT in
[21] proposed the five-dimension DT model to promote the further light of the paradigm of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS). Firstly, DT
applications of DT in more fields. provides users with application services concerning simulation, ver-
ification, monitoring, optimization, diagnosis and prognosis, prognostic
2.2. Five-dimension digital twin model and health management (PHM), etc. Secondly, a number of third-party
services are needed in the process of building a functioning DT, such as
The five-dimension digital twin model can be formulated as formula data services, knowledge services, algorithms services, etc. Lastly, the
(1) [25]. operation of DT requires the continuous support of various platform
MDT = (PE , VM , Ss, DD , CN ) services, which can accommodate customized software development,
(1)
model building, and service delivery.
where PE are physical entities, VM are virtual models, Ss are services,
DD is DT data, and CN are connections. According to formula (1), the 5- 2.2.5. Connections in digital twin
dimension DT model is shown in Fig. 3. Digital representations are connected dynamically with their real
counterpart to enable advanced simulation, operation, and analysis.
2.2.1. Physical entities in digital twin Connections between physical entities, virtual models, services, and
DT is to create the virtual models for physical entities in the digital data enable information and data exchange. There are 6 connections for
way to simulate their behaviors [8]. The physical world is the foun- DT, which are connection between physical entities and virtual models
dation of DT. The physical world may consist of device or product, (CN_PV), connection between physical entities and data (CN_PD),
physical system, activities process, even an organization. They imple- connection between physical entities and services (CN_PS), connection
ment activities according to physical laws and deals with uncertain between virtual models and data (CN_VD), connection between virtual
environments. The physical entities can be divided into three levels models and services (CN_VS), connection between services and data
according to function and structure, which are unit level, system level, (CN_SD) [25]. These connections enable the four parts to collaborate.
and system of system (SoS) level [6].
2.3. Application fields of digital twin
2.2.2. Virtual models in digital twin
Virtual models ought to be faithful replicas of physical entities, Through the integration with mobile Internet, cloud computing, big
which reproduce the physical geometries, properties, behaviors, and data analytics and other technologies, DT is potentially applicable for
rules [26]. The 3-dimension geometric models describe a physical en- many fields where it involves the mapping, fusion, and co-evolution
tity in terms of its shape, size, tolerance, and structural relation. Based between the physical and virtual spaces. As shown in Fig. 4, the DT
on physical properties (e.g. speed, wear and force), physics model re- applications can be found in smart city, construction, healthcare,
flects the physical phenomena of the entities, such as the deformation, agriculture, cargo shipping, drilling platform, automobile, aerospace,
delamination, fracture and corrosion. Behavior model describes the manufacturing, electricity, etc. [2]. As a relatively new technology, the
behaviors (e.g., state transition, performance degradation and co- application of DT was pioneered by the leading enterprises (e.g., GE,
ordination) and responding mechanisms of the entities against changes PTC, Siemens, ANSYS, Dassault, etc.) [28,29]. For civil engineering,
in the external environment. The rule models equip DT with logical Dassault used its 3D Experience Platform to build a “Digital Twin Sin-
abilities such as reasoning, judgement, evaluation, and autonomous gapore” to support urban planning, construction, and service [30]. In-
decision-making, by following the rules extracted from historical data tellectsoft is exploring the DT applications on construction site to detect
3
Fig. 3. Five-dimension digital twin model.
potential problems and prevent dangerous operations. In the healthcare cost, and prevention of fatal failures [26]. Physical entities exist in
field, Sim&Cure developed patient-based digital twin for treating an- specific scenarios to achieve their own functions and provide targeted
eurysms [31], and Dassault conducted a “Living Heart Project (LHP)” services. Therefore, DT can be divided into entity DT and scenario DT,
toward a human heart DT [32]. According to the whitepaper about DT as shown in Fig. 5. Based on the 3D geometric models, entity DT
by Microsoft, DT has the power to accelerate agricultural business and functions to integrate different information such as monitoring in-
support agricultural sustainability [33]. DNV GL established a “virtual formation, sensing information, service information, and behavior in-
sister ship” (i.e., a vessel DT) to increase reliability, reduce operational formation regarding a physical entity toward ubiquitous tracking of the
cost, and improve safety throughout the vessel’s lifecycle [34]. A dril- entity throughout the whole lifecycle [9,37]. Physical entity would
ling platform DT for the Blue Whale #1 in China enabled the visuali- have a virtual twin that is exactly the same as its status, running tra-
zation display, operational monitoring, and design training. Tesla at- jectory, and behavioral characteristics. As for the DT scenarios, the
tempted to develop a DT for each electric car to enable the physical scenarios are represented in the virtual space with static and
simultaneous data transfer between car and plant [28]. In the aviation dynamic information. Static information includes spatial layout,
industry, Airbus, Boeing, AFRL, and NASA used DT to mirror actual equipment, and geographic location [29,38]. Dynamic information in-
conditions, identify defects, predict potential faults, and solve the volves environment, energy consumption, equipment operation, dy-
problem of airframe maintenance [29]. LlamaZOO used DT to enable namic process, etc. [29,38]. The activities in the physical scenario can
mine supervisors to monitor their operators’ vehicles [35]. Based on the be simulated by DT.
Predix platform, GE built a digital wind farm, by creating a DT for every Some DT applications focused on the entity in terms of functional
wind turbine, to optimize maintenance strategy, improve reliability, modeling, concept verification, behavior simulation, performance op-
and increase energy production [36]. Finally, many DT applications can timization, status monitoring, diagnosis and prediction, etc. Such ap-
be found in the manufacturing field. For example, SAP and Dassault plications can be found in areas such as healthcare, cargo shipping,
relied on DT to reduce the deviation between functional requirement drilling platform, automobile, aviation, aerospace, and Internet of
and actual performance. Siemens and PTC relied on DT to improve Things. Some other DT applications focused on the scenario (i.e., the
manufacturing efficiency and quality control. GE, ANSYS, TESLA, and ideal conditions at its best to achieve specific functions). For example,
Microsoft focused on the real-time monitoring, prognostics and health production scenario is to produce the target product in optimal way.
management, and manufacturing services [12]. Construction is the production process of constructing the buildings,
and manufacturing is the production process of turning raw materials or
3. Functions and practice emphasis of digital twin parts into products. Usage scenario refers to where, how, and when a
product is utilized by end users, which could impact product status and
3.1. Category and product lifecycle application of digital twin lifetime. For a shop-floor or factory, it could be a production scenario
for a product or a usage scenario for machine tools. The full potentials
DT reflects the virtual-reality integration and mapping relations of DT can only be enabled through integration between entity DT and
between the physical and virtual worlds [6]. By recording, simulating, scenario DT.
and predicting the running trajectory of entities and processes in the According to the product lifecycle, the applications of DT can be
physical and virtual worlds, it can achieve the efficient exchange of attached to the design, production and use phases, as shown in Fig. 5.
information, optimal allocation of resources, analytical reduction of Above all, at the product design stage, DT enables designers to
4
Fig. 4. Different application fields of digital twin.
digitalize, visualize, and materialize the intangible concepts of complex process planning, resources allocation, manufacturing process, and
systems (e.g., ship, aircraft, and factory) that have numerous compo- process control, etc. [26,46]. Besides, Zhang et al. proposed an archi-
nents and implicit couplings [38,39]. Besides, the quality of design tecture of using cloud-based ubiquitous robotic systems for smart
schemes can be evaluated, compared, and validated through DT manufacturing of customized product. They also developed an im-
without building expensive physical prototypes [39]. By virtually run- plementation procedure for the development of a cloud-based ubiqui-
ning the design scheme in production and usage scenarios, the manu- tous robotic system [47]. Wang et al. used holon, which possesses a
facturability and all the expected functions of the target entity can be logical part and a physical part, to mimic the cyber and physical entities
simulated to verify whether the design meets all the requirements. In of CPS [48]. Their study is the implementation of digital twin tech-
this way, the design and production departments can collaboratively nology. Lastly, at the service stage, since the same physical entity be-
identify design flaws, quality defects, and improve solutions [24]. Guo have differently in various usage scenarios for different purposes, DT is
et al. [38] and Zhang et al. [40] demonstrated that DT could enable the used to simulate the usage scenarios. DT can lead to new insights for
designers to simulate the whole factory design process with respect to diagnosis and prognosis of wear [49], remaining life [9], damage lo-
factory layout, equipment configuration, material handling, buff ;er cation [50], etc., so that most of problems can be eliminated in the bud,
capacity, etc. Zhang et al. focused on the development of simulation- reducing costs and downtime [51]. When problems occur, iterative
based approach for plant design and production planning [41]. Their experiments can be conducted in the digital environment to generate
modeling and simulation approaches can be applied to develop digital the best maintenance solution [8]. For example, DT is used to monitor
twin models of plant. Next, at the production stage, from the perspec- and simulate the performance of aircraft engines in terms of wear
tive of production management, through the simulation, verification, coefficient and pressure tolerance [14], and DT is also used to drive
and confirmation of process planning and production scheduling, DT PHM for wind turbines [25].
could enable the optimal (re)configuration of on-site resources, equip-
ment, work-in-progress, and workers [42]. From the perspective of 3.2. Practice emphasis for digital twin
control and execution, DT functions to keep track of everything oc-
curring in the physical world, based on which, to perform operational In the practical applications of DT, the following key points need
forecasting, to optimize control strategy [43,44], and to align actual more attention. Firstly, the core of any DT is a high-fidelity virtual
process with planning [45]. For example, the DT of construction site model. To this end, it is critical to fully understand the physical world.
can detect and predict potential issues in the virtual space before they Otherwise, the virtual model cannot correspond effectively with the
actually occur in the physical space. The shop-floor DT can optimize physical world. Secondly, while the virtual model is a key part of DT,
5
Fig. 5. Composition and application of digital twin.
DT modeling is a complex and iterative process. A good virtual model is world is a prerequisite for DT. DT involves multidisciplinary knowl-
characterized by high standardization, modularization, lightweight, edge, including dynamics, structural mechanics, acoustics, thermals,
and robustness [2]. The standardization of encoding, interface, and electromagnetism, materials science, hydromechatronics, control
communication protocol is intended to facilitate information sharing theory, and more. Combined with the knowledge, sensing, and mea-
and integration. Modularization increases the flexibility, scalability, surement technologies, the physical entities and processes are mapped
and reusability through the separation and recombination of individual to the virtual space to make the models more accurate and closer to the
models. Lightweight reduces information transfer time and cost. Be- reality. For the virtual model, various modeling technologies are es-
sides, the robustness of models is indispensable to deal with various sential. Visualization technologies are of the essence for real-time
uncertainties. Thirdly, the operations of models and services are all monitoring of physical assets and processes. The accuracy of virtual
driven by data. From raw data to knowledge, the data must go through models directly affects the effectiveness of DT. Therefore, the models
a series of steps (i.e., data lifecycle) [52]. Each step needs to be re- must be validated by verification, validation & accreditation (VV&A)
structured based on the characteristics of DT. Moreover, DT is unique in technologies and optimized by optimization algorithms. Besides, si-
a way that not only it processes data from the physical world, but also it mulation and retrospective technologies can enable rapid diagnosis of
fuses data generated by the virtual models to make the results more quality defects and feasibility verification. Since the virtual models
reliable. Fourthly, the ultimate goal of DT is to provide users with must co-evolve with constant changes in the physical world, model
value-adding services, such as monitoring, simulation, verification, evolution technologies are needed to drive the model update. During
virtual experiment, optimization, digital education, etc. [15,19]. DT the operation of DT, a huge volume of data is generated. To extract
services are delivered through various mobile apps. Besides, DT can useful information from raw data, advanced data analytics and fusion
accommodate some third-party services such as resources service, al- technologies are necessary. The process involves data collection,
gorithm service, knowledge service, etc. Therefore, service encapsula- transmission, storage, processing, fusion, and visualization. DT-related
tion and management are both important parts of DT. Lastly, the phy- services include application service, resource service, knowledge ser-
sical world, virtual models, data, and services are not isolated. They vice, and platform service. To deliver these services, it requires appli-
constantly interact with each other through connections among them cation software, platform architecture technology, service oriented ar-
towards collective evolution. chitecture (SoA) technologies, and knowledge technologies. Finally, the
physical entity, virtual model, data, and service of DT are inter-
4. Enabling technologies for digital twin connected to enable interactions and exchange information. The con-
nection involves Internet technologies, interaction technologies, cyber-
According to the 5-dimension model, as shown in Fig. 6, a variety of security technologies, interface technologies, communication protocols,
enabling technologies are required to support different modules of DT etc.
(i.e., physical entity, virtual model, DT data, smart service, and con-
nection). For the physical entity, the full understanding for the physical
6
Fig. 6. Framework of enabling technologies for digital twin.
4.1. Enabling technologies for cognizing and controlling physical world level precision measurement. To synchronize a virtual model with its
real-world counterpart, real-time data (e.g., torque, pressure, dis-
The physical world of 5-dimension digital twin model is often placement speed, acceleration, vibration, voltage, current, temperature,
complex. There are intricate attributes and connections (including ex- humidity, etc.) must be collected. To this end, sophisticated digital
plicit and invisible ones) between the various entities in the physical twins continuously pull real-time sensor and system data to represent a
world. The creation of virtual models is based on the entities in the near real-time as-is state of physical entities [54]. Structural analysis
physical world, as well as their key internal interaction logic and ex- models, evolution models, and fault prediction models may vary sig-
ternal relationships. It is very difficult to virtually reproduce such a nificantly for different industries, which require the expertise. For ex-
complex system. Therefore, the establishment and improvement of DT ample, smart manufacturing involves knowledge and technologies
is a long process. On the one hand, the virtual model corresponding to about mechanical engineering, material engineering, control and in-
the physical entity is not perfect. As shown in Fig. 7, virtual models formation processing, etc. Especially, how to automatically control
need to evolve to gradually improve the correspondence with physical manufacturing equipment in an adaptive and effective manner is one
entities [26], which requires a full understanding and perception for the major issue [55]. Since methods, technologies, and tools for DT are
physical world. On the other hand, after the physical entities are digi- forward-looking, it requires effective collaboration between different
tized, many implicit associations can be discovered, which can be used industries.
to promote the evolution of physical entities to control the physical Furthermore, DT serves to improve the performance of physical
world [53]. entities in the physical world. When the entities in physical world carry
To create high-fidelity models, it is imperative to cognize the phy- out the intended functions, the energy is controlled by control system to
sical world and perceive data. As shown in Fig. 7, the first step to reflect drive their actuators to accurately complete the specified actions. This
the physical world is to measure the parameters, such as size, shape, process involves power technologies (e.g., hydraulic power, electric
structure, tolerance, surface roughness, density, hardness, etc. The ex- power, and fuel power), drive systems (e.g., shaftless transmission,
isting measurement technologies include laser measurement, image bearing transmission, gear transmission, belt transmission, chain
recognition measurement, conversion measurement, and micro/nano- transmission, and servo drive technologies), process technologies (e.g.,
Fig. 7. Enabling technologies for cognizing and controlling physical world.
7
process planning, design, management, optimization, and control), and fulfill functions, respond to changes, interact with others, adjust in-
control technologies (e.g., electrical control, programmable control, ternal operations, maintain health, etc. The simulation of physical be-
hydraulic control, network control, and interdisciplinary technologies haviors is a complex process that involves multiple models, such as
such as hydromechatronics. problem model, state model, dynamics model, evaluation model, etc.
DT applications call for new technologies to better perceive the These models can be developed based on finite state machines, markov
physical world. Big data refers to large amounts of multi-source, het- chains, and ontology-based modeling methods, etc. State modeling in-
erogeneous data, which is characterized by 5 Vs, i.e., high volume, cludes state diagram and activity diagram. The former describes the
variety, velocity, veracity, and value. Big data analytics provides a new dynamic behaviors of an entity over its lifecycle (i.e., the representation
approach to understand the physical world. Valuable information can of a sequence of states), whereas the latter describes activities required
be found from complex phenomena through data analysis, which is to complete an operation (i.e., the representation of a sequence of ac-
suitable for various industries. As an interdisciplinary technology that tivities). Dynamics modeling deals with rigid body motion, elastic
integrates neurobiology, image processing, and pattern recognition, system motion, high-speed rotating body motion, and fluid motion.
machine vision can extract information from images for the purposes of Rule model describes the rules extracted from historical data, expert
detection, measurement, and control. In addition, the cutting-edge knowledge, and predefined logic. The rules equip the virtual model
technologies of various disciplines and industries are all worthy of with an ability to reason, judge, evaluate, optimize, and predict. Rule
further study to make the model more accurate, and the simulation and modeling involves rule extraction, rule description, rule association,
prediction results more in line with the actual situation. For example, and rule evolution. Rule extraction involves both symbolic methods
for the manufacturing industry, new special processing technologies, (e.g., decision tree and rough set theory) and connectionist methods
manufacturing processes and equipment technologies, and smart ro- (e.g., neural network). Rule description involves methods such as lo-
botic technologies can all help DT to control the smart manufacturing gical notation, production representation, frame representation, object-
process. For the construction industry, emerging technologies (e.g., new oriented representation, semantic web notation, XML-based re-
materials, construction machinery, and shock absorption technologies) presentation, ontology representation, etc. Rule association involves
are transforming the construction industry. For now, it is recommended methods such as category association, diagnostic/inferential associa-
to use image recognition and laser measurement technologies to mea- tion, cluster association, behavior association, attribute association, etc.
sure the parameters of the physical world, and use electrical control, Rule evolution includes application evolution and periodic evolution.
programmable control, embedded control and network control tech- Application evolution means the process of adjusting and updating the
nologies to control the physical world, as well as use big data analytics rules based on feedback obtained from the application process, and
technologies to mine the implicit laws and knowledge. periodic evolution means the process of regularly evaluating the ef-
fectiveness of current rules over a certain period of time (the time varies
4.2. Enabling technologies for digital twin modeling depending on the application). The recommendations of key modeling
technologies are solid modeling technologies for the geometric model,
Modeling refers to the process of representing a physical entity in texture technologies for increasing the sense of reality, finite element
digital forms that can be processed, analyzed, and managed by com- analysis technologies for the physical model, finite state machines for
puters. Modeling is arguably the cornerstone of DT, which provides the behavioral model, XML-based representation and ontology re-
information representation method for product design, analysis, com- presentation for the rule model.
puter numerical control (CNC) machining, quality inspection, produc- Model VV&A can improve model accuracy and simulation con-
tion management, etc. As shown in Fig. 8, DT-related modeling involves fidence [56]. Model VV&A is intended to analyze whether and to what
geometric modeling, physical modeling, behavioral modeling, and rule extent the correctness, tolerance, availability, and running result meet
modeling. the requirement. Model VV&A involves both static methods and dy-
Geometric model describes a physical entity in terms of its geo- namic methods. Static methods are used to evaluate the static aspect of
metric shape, embodiment, and appearance with appropriate data modeling and simulation, including grammatical analysis, semantic
structures, which are suitable for computer information conversion and analysis, structural analysis, causal maps, control analysis, etc. Dynamic
processing. The geometric model includes geometric information (e.g., methods are used to validate the dynamic aspects of modeling and si-
points, lines, surface, and bodies) as well as topological information mulation, including black box test, white box test, execution tracking,
(element relations such as intersection, adjacent, tangent, vertical, and regression testing, statistical technique, and graphical comparison.
parallel). Geometric modeling includes wireframe modeling, surface The current modeling technologies focus on the construction of
modeling, and solid modeling. Wireframe modeling uses basic lines to geometric and physical models. There is a lack of “multi-spatial scale
define the ridgeline portion of the target to form a stereoscopic frame. models” that can represent the behaviors, features, and rules from
Surface modeling describes each surface of an entity and then splice all different granularities of different spatial scales. There is a lack of
surfaces to form a holistic model. Solid modeling describes the internal "multi-time scale models" that can characterize the dynamic process of
structure of a three-dimension entity, which includes information such physical entities from different time scales. From the system perspec-
as vertices, edges, surfaces, and bodys, etc. Besides, to increase the tive, it remains a challenge to integrate various models with different
sense of reality, developers create appearance texture effects (such as dimensions, different spatial scales, and different time scales. As a re-
wear, cracks, fingerprints, and stains, etc.) with bitmaps that represent sult, the existing virtual models cannot describe physical entities in a
the surface details of the entity. Texture techniques mainly are texture realistic and objective manner. The future modeling technologies are
blending (with or without transparency) and lightmaps. characterized by multidisciplinary and multifunctional synthesis. The
Geometric model describes the geometric information of an entity, DT modeling process is an interdisciplinary synthesis process, which
but do not describe entity features and constraints. The physical model involves mechanical science, hydraulics, aerodynamics, structural me-
adds information such as accuracy information (e.g., dimensional tol- chanics, fluid mechanics, acoustics, thermals, electromagnetism, and
erance, shape tolerances, position tolerance, and surface roughness), control theory. Modeling should be optimized for multi-objective and
material information (e.g., material type, performance, heat treatment full-performance, to reach high accuracy, reliability, and reproduce
requirement, hardness, etc.), and assembly information (e.g., mating both dynamic and static characteristics. Moreover, combined with the
relationship and assembly order). Feature modeling includes interactive historical usage, maintenance, and upgrade data, various DT models
feature definition, automatic feature recognition, and feature-based (e.g., structural analysis model, thermodynamic model, product failure
design. and life prediction and analysis models, etc.) can be progressively op-
Behavioral model describes various behaviors of a physical entity to timized through bayesian, machine learning, as well as other data
8
Fig. 8. Enabling technologies for modeling.
mining methods and optimization algorithms. (RFID), cameras, sensors, and other IoT technologies are widely used
for information identification and real-time perception. Software data
4.3. Enabling technologies for digital twin data management can be collected through software application programming interfaces
(APIs), and open database interfaces. Network data can be collected
Data-driven digital twin can perceive, respond, and adapt to the from the Internet through web crawlers, search engine, and public APIs.
changing environment and operational conditions. As illustrated in Data transmission technologies include wire and wireless trans-
Fig. 9, the whole data lifecycle includes data collection, transmission, missions. Wire transmission technologies include twisted-pair cable
storage, processing, fusion and visualization [52]. transmission, symmetric cable transmission, coaxial cable transmission,
The data sources include hardware, software, and network [24]. fiber optic transmission, etc. Wireless transmission includes short-range
Hardware data includes the static attribute data and dynamic status and long-distance technologies. The widely used short-range wireless
data. Barcodes, QR codes, radio frequency identification devices technologies include Zig-Bee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra-Wideband (UWB),
Fig. 9. Enabling technologies for digital twin data management.
9
and Near Field Communication (NFC) [57]. Long-distance wireless image-based technologies, etc.
technologies include GPRS/CDMA, digital radio, spread spectrum mi- As the volume of data continues to increase, the existing data
crowave, wireless bridge, satellite communication, etc. Both wire and technologies are bound to advance. For data collection, the future data
wireless transmissions depend on transmission protocols, access acquisition technologies should focus on real-time status data collec-
methods, multi-access schemes, channel multiplex modulation and tion. Therefore, it is necessary to explore smart identification technol-
coding, and multi-user detection technologies. ogies, advanced sensor technologies, machine vision technologies,
Data storage is to store the collected data for further processing, adaptation and access technologies, etc. For data transmission, it is
analysis, and management. Data storage is inseparable from database necessary to explore the applicability of the high-speed, low-latency,
technologies. However, due to the increasing volume and heterogeneity high-performance, and high-secure data transmission protocols (e.g.,
of multisource DT data, traditional database technologies are no longer fibre channel protocol and 5 G), and their corresponding devices.
unfeasible. Big data storage technologies, such as distributed file sto- Besides, quantum transmission technology is potentially applicable for
rage (DFS), NoSQL database, NewSQL database, and cloud storage, are DT as well, including quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum tele-
drawing growing attention. DFS enables many hosts to access shared portation, quantum secure direct communication (QSDC), quantum
files and directories simultaneously over the network. NoSQL is char- secret sharing (QSS). Data storage can be improved by adopting new
acterized by the ability to scale horizontally to cope with massive data. storage media (e.g., inductive thin film and magnetic random access
NewSQL denotes new scalable and high-performance databases, which memory) and restructuring storage architecture (e.g., time series, dis-
not only has storage and management capability for massive data, but tributed, and MPP architecture). As algorithms become increasingly
also supports ACID and SQL of traditional database. NewSQL imple- complex, new data processing architectures (e.g., edge computing and
ments replication and failback by using redundant machines. fog computing [59]) can address the issue of massive data processing.
Data processing means extracting useful information from a large Moreover, new data processing technologies such as graph processing
volume of incomplete, unstructured, noisy, fuzzy, and random raw and domain-oriented data processing technologies should be devel-
data. Firstly, data is carefully preprocessed to remove redundant, irre- oped. The future directions of data fusion include real-time data fusion,
levant, misleading, duplicate, and inconsistent data. The relevant online data and offline data fusion, physical data and simulation data
technologies include data cleaning, data compression, data smoothing, fusion, structured and unstructured data fusion, big data fusion, object-
data reduction, data transformation, etc. Next, the pre-processed data is based data fusion, similarity fusion, cross-language data fusion, etc.
analyzed through statistical methods, neural network methods, etc. Currently, it is difficult to visualize explicitly the large-scale and high-
Relevant statistical methods include descriptive statistics (e.g., fre- dimensional data. In the future, multiple models should be adopted to
quency, central tendency, discrete tendency, and distribution analysis), customize the data visualization outcomes through parallel visualiza-
hypothesis testing (e.g., u-test, t-test, χ2 test, and F-test), correlation tion technologies, complex data dimensionality reduction visualization
analysis (e.g., linear correlation, partial correlation, and distance ana- technologies, unstructured data visualization techniques, etc. The re-
lysis), regression analysis (e.g., linear regression, curve regression, commendation of key technologies for data lifecycle management in-
binary regression, and multiple regression), clustering analysis (e.g., cludes sensors and other IoT technologies for data collection, 5 G
partition clustering, hierarchical clustering, density-based clustering, technology for data transmission, NewSQL technology for data storage,
and grid-based clustering), discriminant analysis (e.g., maximum like- edge-cloud architecture computing technology for data processing, ar-
lihood, distance discriminant, bayesian discriminant, and fisher dis- tificial intelligence technology for data fusion. The data visualization
criminant), dimension reduction (e.g., principal component analysis, technologies vary depending on the applications.
and factor analysis), time series analysis, etc. Neural network methods
include forward neural network (i.e., neural network based on gradient 4.4. Enabling technologies for digital twin services
algorithm such as BP network, optimal regularization method such as
SVM, radial basis neural network, and extreme learning machine neural DT integrates multiple disciplines to achieve advanced monitoring,
network), feedback network (e.g., Hopfield neural network, Hamming simulation, diagnosis and prognosis. Monitoring requires computer
network, wavelet neural network, bidirectional contact storage net- graphics, image processing, 3-D rendering, graphics engine, virtual-
work, and Boltzmann machine), and self-organizing neural network reality synchronization technologies, etc. Simulation involves structural
(e.g., self-organizing feature mapping and competitive learning). simulation, mechanics (e.g., fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, thermo-
Besides, deep learning provides advanced analytics technology for dynamics, and kinematics) simulation, electronic circuit simulation,
processing and analysing massive data [58]. Database methods include control simulation, process simulation, virtual test simulation, etc.
multidimensional data analysis and OLAP methods. Diagnosis and prognosis are based on data analysis, which involves
Data fusion copes with multisource data through synthesis, filtering, statistical theory, machine learning, neural network, fuzzy theory, fault
correlation, and integration. Data fusion includes raw-data-level fusion, tree, etc.
feature-level fusion, and decision-level fusion. Data fusion methods As shown in Fig. 10, some hardware and software resources and
include random methods and artificial intelligence. Random methods even knowledge can be encapsulated into services. The lifecycle of re-
(e.g., classical reasoning, weighted average method, Kalman filtering, source services can be divided into three stages: service generation,
Bayesian estimation, and Dempster-Shafer evidence reasoning,) are service management, and on-demand use of services [60]. Service
applicable for all three levels of data fusion. Artificial intelligence generation technologies include resource perception and assessing (e.g.,
methods (e.g., fuzzy set theory, rough set theory, neural network, wa- sensors, adapters, and middleware), resource virtualization, and re-
velet theory, and support vector machine) are applicable for the fea- source encapsulation technologies (e.g., SOA, web services, and se-
ture-level and decision-level data fusions. mantic services), etc. Service management technologies include service
Data visualization serves to present data analysis results in a searching, matching, collaboration, comprehensive utility evaluation,
straightforward, intuitive, and interactive manner [52]. Generally quality of service (QoS), scheduling, fault tolerance technologies, etc.
speaking, any method intended to make explicit the underlying prin- On-demand use technologies consisted of transaction and business
ciples, laws, and logics contained in data by means of graphics is called management technologies, etc. to provide supporting for realizing au-
data visualization. Data visualization is manifested in various ways such tomatic matching, transaction process monitoring, comprehensive
as histogram, pie chart, line chart, map, bubble chart, tree chart, evaluation, optimal scheduling of services and users’ business. Knowl-
dashboards, etc. According to the principle of its visualization, these edge services involve the process of knowledge capture, storage,
methods can be divided into geometry-based technologies, pixel-or- sharing, and reuse, etc. Common technologies for knowledge capturing
iented technologies, icon-based technologies, layer-based technologies, include association rule mining, statistical methods, artificial neural
10
Fig. 10. Enabling technologies for digital twin services.
network, decision tree, rough set method, case-based reasoning needs to be solved. Services work together to complete tasks.
method, etc. Knowledge storage, sharing, and reuse are implemented in Collaborative services are exposed to more uncertainties, which affect
the form of services. the smooth completion of the task. For knowledge extraction, there is a
Resource and knowledge services, application services can be lack of resources in natural language processing, especially dictionaries,
managed through the industrial IoT platform. Platform provides some which is worth of future research. Efficiency and security are the two
supporting functions such as service publishing, querying, searching, basic elements of the platform. Architecture, algorithms and standards
smart matching and recommendation, online communication, online of security and reliability without compromising performance are the
contracting, service evaluation, etc. Platform-related technologies in- top priority of research.
clude platform architecture, organization mode, operation and main-
tenance management, security technologies, etc.
In addition, the creation of virtual models is complex and specia- 4.5. Enabling technologies for connections in digital twin
lized project, so are the data fusion and analysis. For users who do not
have relevant knowledge, it is difficult to build and use the DT. As shown in Fig. 11, based on the real-time data exchange through
Therefore, it is imperative that models and data are able to be shared CN_PV, not only the running state of the physical entities is reflected
and used by users. Because service can shield the underlying hetero- dynamically in the virtual world, but also the analysis results of the
geneity, the DT components can be encapsulated to services to be virtual models are sent back to control the physical entities. Through
managed and used in service platform. As a result, the DT components CN_PD, DT is used to manage the entire product lifecycle, which laid
that cannot be easily developed in-house can be purchased, shared, and data foundation for analysis, prediction, quality tracing, and product
reused in a convenient “pay-as-you-go” fashion through services [12]. planning. Through CN_PS, services (e.g., monitoring, diagnostics, and
Benefited from comprehensive servitization, the DT can be managed in prognosis) are linked to physical entities to receive data and feed the
a service platform uniformly. Among the enabling technologies for di- service outcome back. In the connections of physical entities with
gital twin services, service-oriented architecture is the most important. models, data and services, identification, sensing and tracking of phy-
In the future, moving target detection is significant for smart sical entities are crucial. Therefore, RFID, sensor, wireless sensor net-
monitoring. Moving target detection, classification, tracking and other work, and other IoT technologies are necessary. Data exchange requires
high-level behavioral analysis algorithm improvements are research communication technology [61], unified communication interfaces,
route. For multi-state, multi-physics, multi-scale and complex coupling and protocol technologies, including protocol parsing and conversion,
simulations, they are required to be more precise, more detailed, and interface compatibility, and common gateway interface, etc. Since
have continuous dynamic optimization capabilities. As DT is complex human interacts with DT in both physical and virtual worlds, human-
system integrating multiple engineering disciplines, the future research computer interaction technologies (e.g., VR, AR, MR) should be in-
includes multi-domain simulation, joint simulation of multi-simulation corporated, as well as human–robot interaction and collaboration [62].
systems coupling. Besides, future simulations also need to enhance Given many different models, CN_VD needs communication, interfaces,
high-performance computing and parallel scalability capabilities. The protocols, and standard technologies to ensure smooth data interaction
generation of massive operational data poses new challenges for diag- between virtual models and data. Similarly, the connections between
nosis and prognosis. Big data-based diagnosis and prognosis will be the services and virtual models (CN_VS) as well as data (CN_SD) also re-
mainstream research, including algorithm design, feature extraction, quire communication interface, protocol, standard technologies, and
performance improvement, etc. Service transactions involve the service collaboration technologies. Finally, security technologies (e.g., device
provider, demander and operator. How to consider the interests of all security, network security, information security) must be incorporated
participants, and balance their utility is the bottleneck, which still to protect the security of DTs. In the connections in digital twin, the
communication interfaces and protocol technologies, human-computer
11
Fig. 11. Enabling technology for connections.
interaction technologies, as well as security technologies should be pay 5.1. Tools for cognizing and controlling physical world
more attention.
The connection part serves to ensure real-time interaction among The tools for physical part of DT can be divided into tools for cog-
different parts of DTs. At present, the inconsistency of interfaces, pro- nizing physical world and tools for controlling physical world.
tocols, and standards is the bottleneck of DT connection. It is necessary Cognizing different aspects of the physical world is the foundation of
to investigate the general interconnection theories, standards, and de- digitalization. IoT is one of the drivers of digital twin. When the phy-
vices with heterogeneous multi-source elements. As data traffic con- sical entities are hooked up to data sensing and gathering systems, di-
tinues to grow exponentially, research hotspots such as multi-dimen- gital twin turn the data into insights and ultimately into optimized
sional multiplexing (e.g., time division, wavelength division, frequency processes and business outcomes. For example, Ali Cloud IoT provides
division, code division, and modularization) and coherent technologies, secure and reliable device sensing capacity, enabling fast access to
can provide more bandwidth and lower latency access services. Facing multi-protocol, multi-platform, multi-regional devices. Besides, the
the massive incoming data, a promising solution is to build ultra-large- virtual models run in parallel to the physical assets. Driven by sensors
capacity routers with tens of millions of small routing entries to provide data, digital twin flags operational behavior that deviates from simu-
end-to-end communications. It is necessary to develop new network lated behavior. For example, a petroleum company may stream sensor
architectures in order to achieve the flexible control of network traffic data from offshore oil rigs that operate continuously. IoTSyS is an IoT
and make the network (as pipelines) more intelligent. Given the in- middleware, which provides a communication protocol stack for the
crease of communication bandwidths and energy consumption, it is communication between smart devices. IoTSyS supports multiple
necessary to develop new strategies and approaches toward green standards and protocols, including IPv6, oBIX, 6LoWPAN, and efficient
communication. XML exchange formats. Moreover, most tools for cognizing the physical
world are vision-related. For example, in an uncharted workshop en-
vironment, AGV (automated guided vehicle) cars can use LIDAR (light
5. Tools for digital twin detection and ranging), depth camera, GPS (global positioning system),
and maps established through the ROS (robot operating system) soft-
As shown in Fig. 12, based on the 5-dimension digital twin model, ware architecture, to optimize the path [63]. Similar software tools are
functional requirements and enabling technologies of digital twin, some shown in Fig. 13.
tools are prescribed, including tools for cognizing and controlling A tool for controlling the physical world can make physical entities
physical world, tools for digital twin modeling, tools for digital twin run more efficiently and securely based on feedback information, which
data management, tools for digital twin services applications, and tools is analysis and processing of perceived physical entity state information
for connections in digital twin.
12
Fig. 12. Framework of tools for digital twin.
in virtual world. Digital twin is to adjust the physical world mainly 5.2. Tools for digital twin modeling
through controlling the operations with feedback. Therefore, the tools
for changing the physical world mostly are control-related. For ex- ANSYS Twin Builder containing extensive application-specific li-
ample, TwinCAT software system can turn almost any compatible PC braries and features third-party tool integration is an appropriate soft-
into a real-time controller with a multi-PLC system, NC axis control, ware tool for digital twin modeling, which allows for multiple modeling
programming environment and operating station [64]. SAP provides domains and languages. Twin Builder can enable engineers to quickly
vehicle maintenance and remote diagnosis services for Trenitalia (i.e., build, validate and deploy the digital models of physical assets. Twin
the primary train operator in Italy) through real-time data analysis. Builder's built-in libraries provide rich components to create the desired
Besides, it provides an optimal operation plan for the health state and system dynamics models at an appropriate level of detail, which include
train running state through the dispatching system [65]. Similar soft- models from multiple physical domains and multiple levels of fidelity.
ware tools are shown in Fig. 13. Besides, Twin Builder couples with ANSYS' physics-based simulation
technology to bring the detail of 3D into the systems context. Moreover,
Fig. 13. Tools for cognizing and controlling physical world.
13
Twin Builder readily integrates embedded control software and HMI (FEA) software by ANSYS, sensor data can be used to define real-time
design to support testing the performance of embedded controls with boundary conditions for the geometric models and integrate wear
models of the physical system. In addition, Siemens NX software, a coefficient or performance degradation into the models [66]. Besides,
flexible and powerful tool, can enable companies to realize the value of Simulink can be used to create physics-based model using multi-domain
the digital twin. NX software can deliver the next generation of design, modeling tools. Physics-based modeling with Simulink involves mul-
simulation, and manufacturing solutions through integrated toolset, to tiple models, including mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical compo-
support every aspect of product development, from concept design nents. Similar software tools for physical modeling are shown in
through engineering and manufacturing. Fig. 14.
Moreover, virtual models reproduce the physical geometries, prop- The behavior modeling tools are used to establish a model that re-
erties, behaviors, and rules. The models include geometry models, sponds to external drivers and disturbance factors and improves the
physical models, behavior models and rule models. Therefore, the tools simulation service performance of DT. For example, based on the soft
for DT modeling include geometry modeling tools, physical modeling PLC platform CoDeSys, the motion control system of CNC machine tool
tools, behavior modeling tools, rule modeling tools. can be designed. The motion control system can interact information
The geometric modeling tools serve to describe the shape, size, with the multi-domain model of three-axis CNC machine tool estab-
position and assembly relationship of entities, based on which, to per- lished in the software platform MWorks, through the socket commu-
form structural analysis and production planning. For example, a per- nication. In this way, it can realize the motion control of single-axis and
formance test device for the DT model of CNC machine tool is estab- three-axis interpolation of CNC machine tool. Besides, the multi-do-
lished in SolidWorks. Besides, 3D Max is software for 3D modeling, main model can respond to the external drive. Similar software tools
animation, rendering and visualization. 3D Max is used to shape and are shown in Fig. 14.
define detailed environments, objects (person, place, or thing) and The rule modeling tools can improve the service performance by
widely used in advertising, film and television, industrial design, ar- modeling the logics, laws, and rules of physical behaviors. For example,
chitectural design, 3D animation, multimedia production, games, and the machine learning ability by PTC’s Thingworx upon the HP EL20
other engineering fields. The common geometric modeling tools are edge computing system can monitor sensors to automatically learn the
shown in Fig. 14. normal state of the pump while it is running. Based on the learned rules,
The physical modeling tools are used to build physical model by DT can recognize abnormal operating conditions, detect abnormal
endowing physical characteristics of physical entities into geometric patterns, and predict future trends [67]. Similar software tools are
models, then physical state of physical entities can be analyzed through shown in Fig. 14.
this physical model. For example, through the finite element analysis
Fig. 14. Tools for digital twin modeling.
14
Fig. 15. Tools for digital twin data management.
5.3. Tools for digital twin data management processed data to aid in judgment, planning, verification and diagnosis.
For example, Spyder is a commonly used data fusion tool that supports
Data is the carrier of information and the key driver of DT. As shown Python programming. Another data fusion software, Pycharm, can
in Fig. 15, the tools for DT data management include data collection improve productivity in debugging, syntax highlighting, project man-
tools, data transmission tools, data storage tools, data processing tools, agement, code jumping, smart prompting, auto-completion, unit
data fusion tools, and data visualization tools. testing, and version control. Other tools that are equipped with the data
Data collection tools can obtain complete, stable and effective data fusion ability are shown in Fig. 15.
through reasonable sensor placement. For example, DHDAS signal ac- Data visualization provides neat, intuitive and clear data informa-
quisition and analysis system is a set of signal analysis and processing tion to personnel for real-time monitoring and rapid capture of target
software. The software can be used with a variety of models to complete information. For example, the open-source software Echarts can run
the real-time acquisition and analysis of different signals. The software smoothly on PCs and mobile devices, and is compatible with most
also has signal analysis processing capabilities. Similar software tools current browsers. Echarts provides intuitive, vivid, and customized data
are shown in Fig. 15. visualizations for huge-volume and dynamic data. It can accommodate
The purpose of data transmission is to realize real-time data trans- a variety of data formats without extra conversions. Similar tools are
mission while ensuring that data information is not missing or da- shown in Fig. 15.
maged, and to maintain the authenticity of data to the greatest extent.
With the advent of the big data era, traditional FTP solutions are in- 5.4. Tools for digital twin service applications
adequate to meet the data transmission needs in terms of speed or re-
liability. A representing tool is Aspera that is known for the ability to The tools for digital twin service applications can be classified into
transmit large size file, over long transmission distance, and under poor platform service tools, simulation service tools, optimization service
network condition. Aspera uses the existing WAN infrastructure to tools, diagnostic and prognosis service tools, as shown in Fig. 16.
transmit data in a much faster speed than FTP and HTTP. Without Service platform tools integrate emerging technologies such as the
changing the original network architecture, it supports the Web inter- Internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence. For example, the
face, client, command line and API for transmission, as well as PC, Thingworx platform can connect the DT model to the products in op-
mobile devices, MAC, and Linux devices. Alternative data transmission eration, to display sensor data, and analyze results through web ap-
tools are shown in Fig. 15. plications. ThingWorx platform could provide industrial protocol con-
Data storage is the guarantee of subsequent operations, which rea- version, data acquisition, device management, big data analysis and
lizes the classification and preservation of data, and responds to data other services. HIROTEC, a premier automation manufacturing equip-
calling in real time through efficient read-write mechanism. The data ment and parts supplier, realized the connection between CNC machine
storage technology has experienced a rapid development in recent year. operation data and ERP system data based on the ThingWorx platform,
A representing example is HBase based on the Hadoop platform. HBase effectively reducing equipment downtime. Siemens launched the
is a highly reliable, high performance, column-oriented, scalable, real- MindSphere platform. The platform can transmit industrial field devices
time read-write distributed database. It can support the storage of both data collected by sensors, controllers and various information systems
semi-structured and unstructured data, as well as independent in- to the cloud in real time through secure channels, and provide big data
dexing, high availability, and large instantaneous writes. The alter- analysis and mining, industrial APPs, and value-added services for en-
native data storage systems are shown in Fig. 15. terprises. Similar tools are shown in Fig. 16.
Data processing eliminates interference and contradictory in- The application service tools include monitoring service tools, op-
formation, making data available for efficient use. For example, Spark is timization service tools, diagnostic and prognosis service tools, etc. The
an open source cluster computing software, which has the real-time diagnostic and prognosis service tools can provide intelligent predictive
data processing ability. Spark supports applications written in multiple maintenance strategy for equipment and reduce equipment downtime,
languages such as Java, Scala and Python, greatly reducing the user's etc., by analyzing and processing the twin data. For example, the
threshold. Spark also supports SQL and Hive SQL for data query. Similar ANSYS simulation platform helps customers design the IIoT-connected
data processing software is shown in Fig. 15. assets themselves and analyze the operational data created by these
Data fusion integrates, filters, correlates and synthesizes the smart devices, versus design data to enable troubleshooting and
15
Fig. 16. Tools for digital twin services applications.
Fig. 17. Tools for connections in digital twin.
predictive maintenance. In addition, integrated with data-driven reserve is sufficient and whether grid controllers need adjustment. Si-
methods (machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, and milar tools are shown in Fig. 16.
system identification, etc.), MATLAB can be used to determine re- Advanced simulation tools not only can perform diagnostics and
maining useful life to inform operations on the most opportune time to determine the best benefits of maintenance, but also capture informa-
service or replace equipment. For example, Baker Hughes, a large ser- tion to refine the next-generation design. For example, if lack of ap-
vice company providing products and services to the oil development propriate FEM simulation analysis, in the design of CNC machine tool,
and processing industry, has developed predictive maintenance alarm the machine will fail in vibration. On the other hand, if extra material is
system based on MATLAB. Similar diagnostic and prognosis tools are added to increase the strength and to reduce vibration then the cost of
shown in Fig. 16. machine would escalate due to the over-designing of the CNC machine
Using twin data like sensor data, energy costs, or performance fac- tool. However, carry out corresponding structure simulation analysis in
tors, the optimization service tools are triggered to run hundreds or the finite element software ANSYS and then auxiliary to the appropriate
thousands of what-if simulations to evaluate readiness or necessary evaluation function, which will take into account the performance and
adjustments to current system set-points. This enables system opera- cost, and meet the lean design requirements of CNC machine tool [69].
tions to be optimized or controlled during operation to mitigate risk, Similar simulation tools are shown in Fig. 16.
reduce cost and energy consumption, and increase system efficiencies.
For example, the Plant Simulation software by Siemens can optimize
5.5. Tools for connections in digital twin
the production line scheduling and factory layout [68]. And in digital
twin electric grid, Simulink receives measured data from the grid, then
The tools for DT connections are used to connect the physical and
runs thousands of simulation scenarios to determine if the energy
virtual worlds, as well as to connect different parts of DT. The core of
16
Table 1
Comprehensive tools and their roles in different aspects of DT (√ denotes it can be used in this part).
any DT is to map between physical and virtual worlds and break the connections are necessary to help develop problem diagnostics and
boundaries between physical and virtual realities. For example, PTC troubleshooting, determine the ideal maintenance plan based on the
Thingworx can act as a gateway between sensors and digital models to characteristics of each physical asset, and optimize the performance of
connect various smart devices to the IoT ecosystem [67]. MindSphere is physical assets, etc. For example, the Azure IoT Hub by Microsoft en-
a cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens that connects abled Rolls-Royce to build engine models and perform data analysis
products, plants, systems, and machines. MindSphere uses advanced based on machine learning. In this way, it can detect anomalies of
analytics to enable the wealth of data generated by the IoT. Jasper about-to-fail components and prescribe suitable solutions [70]. Similar
Control Center from Cisco Jasper can better manage connected devices tools are shown in Fig. 17.
using NB-IoT technology. Jasper Control Center continuous monitor There are a number of comprehensive tools that play multiple roles
network conditions, device behavior, and IoT service status to ensure in DT applications, such as FEA software ANSYS not only modeling, but
high service reliability through real-time diagnostics and proactive also providing simulation services, troubleshooting services, and so on.
monitoring of connection status. The connections within DT mean the Similar comprehensive tools include Predix, Siemens’ MindSphere,
communication, interaction, and exchange of information among phy- ANSYS, Dassault's 3D Experience, Foxconn's Beacon, PTC’s Thingworx,
sical entity, data center, service, and virtual model. These information etc., as shown in Table 1.
17
Implementing digital twin is a complex system and long-drawn Program of China under Grant 2016YFB1101700.
process, which requires multiple technologies and tools to work to-
gether. For example, reproducing a wind turbine requires monitoring of References
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Enabling technologies and tools for digital twin

Article in Journal of Manufacturing Systems · March 2021

Qinglin Qi Fei Tao

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Tianliang Hu Nabil Anwer

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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Manufacturing Systems

Enabling technologies and tools for digital twin

1. Introduction to work with computers eﬀectively. With the development of Internet

Fig. 1. Evolvement of digitalization paradigm.

Fig. 2. The milestones of DT development.

Fig. 3. Five-dimension digital twin model.

Fig. 4. Diﬀerent application ﬁelds of digital twin.

Fig. 5. Composition and application of digital twin.

Fig. 6. Framework of enabling technologies for digital twin.

Fig. 7. Enabling technologies for cognizing and controlling physical world.

Fig. 8. Enabling technologies for modeling.

Fig. 9. Enabling technologies for digital twin data management.

Fig. 10. Enabling technologies for digital twin services.

Fig. 11. Enabling technology for connections.

Fig. 12. Framework of tools for digital twin.

Fig. 13. Tools for cognizing and controlling physical world.

Fig. 14. Tools for digital twin modeling.

Fig. 15. Tools for digital twin data management.

Fig. 16. Tools for digital twin services applications.

Fig. 17. Tools for connections in digital twin.

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