Have you ever been made aware of something and once you recognize it, you see it everywhere? Like the FedEx sign on their trucks. Once you see the arrow point back from the 2nd e in their name, that is all you see.
Patric Anderson
Have you ever been made aware of something and once you recognize it, you see it everywhere? Like the FedEx sign on their trucks. Once you see the arrow point back from the 2nd e in their name, that is all you see. That is what has recently happened to me with Digital Twins. Now I am aware of what they are, I see them and see their many possibilities. That got me to thinking, what are all those possibilities, what are they used for? What are the components that make up a digital twin? What makes them so powerful that they can help us make better decisions, avoid risk, improve processes?
In an earlier blog, I reported on what is a digital twin. At Calfus, we believe, “The digital world is all about interconnected, intelligent and adaptive networks. Be it at the macro level of global business alliances or at the micro level of a machinery in a remote manufacturing facility. The pursuit of the future is about the highest level of real time awareness accomplished through collection, consolidation, visualization, and analysis of data.
We now see the use of science and math to truly leverage the accumulated body of knowledge through a systematic and smart autonomous confluence of technology and wisdom. A great example of the success is the ubiquity of value we see being realized by early adopters of new age technology like digital twins. In the next couple of years, we will see an exponential increase in usage and value derived through such solutions.”
So, and I am paraphrasing, digital twin as a collection, consolidation, visualization, and analysis of data that helps us realize value of a specific process or entity.
Like I was just mentioning, once you see it, Digital twin cannot be unseen. Who sees the collection, consolidation, visualization, and analysis of data that helps us realize value of a specific process or entity? Let’s look at a couple of examples.
I heard on a news talk show that nearly 3000 flights take off from the United States to various locations in the US and abroad between the 6am and 9am eastern time daily. That is the greatest air traffic jam anywhere in the entire world. The pilots, airports and air traffic controllers in the US handle this surge load of commuter air travel seamlessly by the use of digital twins every day. The radar for location, communication from the pilot to the towers and centers, flight numbers, pilot identification numbers and more are all part of a collection and consolidation of data to give air traffic controllers a visualization of the position of every one of those flights. This helps them determine the best direction, altitude, and air speed each plane needs to maintain to safely go to their destinations.
Major metropolitan cities have similar digital twins to control traffic. I saw a spy movie once where the ‘Tech’ expert in the spy ring hacked into the cities digital twin that controlled all the traffic lights. Tech guy turned all the lights green in the path of the get away car to ensure a smooth escape for the whole gang.
I also have seen glimpses of digital twins in commercials on TV. Amazon gives you glimpses into their operations of loading, sorting, and delivering packages. In the background are the digital twins depicting, predicting, and guiding every movement. Like I said, once you see a digital twin in action, you see them everywhere.
So, what are digital twin really? What are the components that make them up, how are those components used, what makes them so powerful? It is really quite logical and simplistic if you think about it. It all starts with data. The means for obtaining the data are also a major component of the digital twin. You need a way to visualize the data in a meaningful way. There is probably a software or system that will come into use. But the main component of the digital twin is there has to be a need a reason. There needs to be a purpose for the twin.
The data can come from numerous sources. If you think about supply chains like Amazon’s services, the sources are their ERP systems for supply and demand data. Part numbers and lead times, sources and ship to locations are all needed bits of collected data. But the data does not have to come from just computer systems. The data can come from written logs such as a sign out log at a truck terminal, or reports generated at a bank. Machines can also transmit data through their operations by use of sensors giving data about the flow speeds of materials that are going through them, or temperatures, sizes, weights, and many types of other data. Material movement can be tracked by the scanners that warehouse personnel use. They scan the material at every step and that data is collected for use in the digital twin. Video input can also be used to help visualize the materials in the warehouse.
Alternatively, CAD drawings and 3D renderings are also very helpful in displaying the set up and environment where data is collected. These rendering as stable and somewhat static. By making them visual, the digital twin user gets a wonderful sense of space and depth of the surrounding areas that the digital twin is being used.
Software is key when viewing and analyzing data from a Digital twin. There may be software that is required for the 3D rendering. The collection of data may take a data acquisition software. There could also be some analysis of that data that is required to help visualize it. Data may also be required in those cases too. Simulations using the digital twin data usually take very specialized software created for the digital twin. Running simulations is an advanced case for any digital twin, and the software is just as specific.
One of the most important components of a digital twin is what is it used for? What is the purpose of the digital twin. What do we hope to see and why are we analyzing the visualization? Digital twins are meant to help us make decisions, optimize processes, collect critical data. Without that purpose, they are lovely cool representation, but basically only that.
So, in closing let me say that digital twins are here, and they are here to stay. We have been working with them for some time and they now surround us in many aspects of our lives. And NOW YOU TOO will begin to see them…. Everywhere.
Calfus can help you identify the problem, explore possibilities and benefits of implementing a digital twin and be your success partner. Please reach out for more information!
All pictures were taken from the following source:
https://www.pexels.com/
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