Digital twins
Digital twins are broadly defined as virtual representations of physical assets, providing an accurate and detailed replica of their real-life counterparts to enable advanced analysis, simulation, and optimization. The first experiments with digital twins were developed by NASA to mirror outer space as a virtual image (Allen, B. Danette. Digital twins and living models at NASA. Digital Twin Summit. 2021). Later, digital twin technology was used for product design and manufacturing in techniques such as 3D prototyping.
As of now, there is no easy definition of the concept of a digital twin (see ISO 23247). The various existing definitions are defined by specific characteristics that derive from multiple use cases that employ the concept of digital twins.
When more complex objects began to produce data, digital twins moved beyond manufacturing into the domains of IIoT, AI, and data analytics. In this book, we accept the definition by Glaessgen and Stargel with a slight...
