Shaping the future of industry: Understanding the dynamics of industrial digital twins

Abstract

A digital twin (DT) is a representation of anything in the real-world that gets updates from both its physical and environmental equivalents. As a result, it is seen as the cornerstone of Industry 4.0 and the wave of innovation to come since it connects virtual cyberspace with actual physical entities. Virtualization of machinery control, use of data analysis in decision-making, and information flow through the Internet are some trends in Industrial Digital Twins (IDTs). IDT is one of the possible digital technologies that are currently being developed to facilitate digital transformation and decision-making in many industrial sectors. Even after more than two decades, the concept of digital twin is continuously developing, taking new forms like IDT as it permeates industries and applications. This has led to an ever-growing diversity of definitions, which poses a danger to the concept’s clarity and might result in the technology’s use ineffectively. To define what qualifies an IDT and what does not, there is a requirement for a comprehensive description with well-defined criteria. A digital representation of a physical process enables safe management, remote control, and simulations of the process. This paper offers recommendations for creating a Digital Twin architecture that incorporates the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and modern technology, integrating aforementioned features in an experimental application. Additionally, the article concentrates on the IDT characteristics, major technological practices behind IDT, related sustainable solutions, and major use-cases. Furthermore, the existing challenges are explored with a specific focus on the open issues and related future opportunities.