Brief History of Digital Twin
The concept and model of the Digital Twin was officially put forward in 2002 by Dr. Michael Grieves as the conceptual model underlying Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). The concept was being practiced since the 1960s by NASA. They used basic twinning ideas for space programming at that time. They did this by creating physically duplicated systems at ground level to match the systems in space.
Example : When NASA developed a digital twin to assess and simulate conditions on board Apollo 13. The efforts were made keeping in mind only a particular mission and because of that, this concept didn’t gain recognition until 2002 after Dr. Grieves presented it with all the elements including real space, virtual space and the spreading of data and information flow between real and virtual space.
The concept of integrating the digital and physical parts as one entity has remained the same since its emergence. Although the terminology has changed over the years till 2010 when it was subsequently called ‘Digital Twin’ by John Vickers of NASA in a 2010 Roadmap Report.
A Digital Twin consists of three distinct parts:
1. The physical part ,
2. The Digital Part ,
3. The Connection Between the Two .
The ‘connection here refers to the data that flows from physical products to the digital/virtual product and information that is being available from the digital environment to the physical environment.
What is a Digital Twin?
Have you ever crafted a machine? If so, envision the iterative process it took to achieve flawless functionality. We understand that the journey likely involved numerous attempts, a common challenge faced not only by you but by every manufacturer. Defects in specific fragments can lead to nonfunctionality, prompting dismantling, identification of the faulty part, and starting anew.
Ever wished you could predict a machine’s performance before assembly? Imagine simulating it on your desktop, replicating real-world behavior from micro-atomic to macro-geometric levels. This possibility is realized through a “Digital Twin.” The future of industrial services revolves around accurately predicting physical assets through their Digital Twins.