Conquering the Parallel World
Conquering the Parallel WorldHow digital twins transform how we think, work and live
CHAPTER 1 – Virtual Pretenders
CHAPTER 2 – The Charm of the Replicants
CHAPTER 3 – The Power of Habit
CHAPTER 4 – Venturing into a Digital Second Universe
CHAPTER 5 – Outro
CHAPTER 2 – The Charm of the Replicants
CHAPTER 3 – The Power of Habit
CHAPTER 4 – Venturing into a Digital Second Universe
CHAPTER 5 – Outro
A second, virtual world that is no less fascinating than our actual, physical world is emerging in parallel before our very eyes. This is not about online gaming worlds, but about “digital twins” that exist in this virtual parallel universe as replicas of their analog relatives. Currently still loners in the digital sense, rather like solitary science fiction characters, these pioneers are exploring an otherwise largely analog corporate environment.But an increasing number of them are beginning to appear, because digital twins have one amazing feature: We can use them to explore our future.
How will the component that our supplier is currently developing fit into my manufacturing process? When can I anticipate disruptions to my new production line? At which road junctions are accidents likely? How long will my heart last? When should I expect a heart attack? And more importantly: How long am I likely to live? And what will I die from one day?
Digital twins can answer all these questions – if not today, then in the future.Due to this, they are the future. It’s about time for us to take a closer look and try to understand them: So what actually are digital twins?
Chapter 1 – Virtual Pretenders
Chapter 1 – Virtual Pretenders
“A digital twin is an instance developed from a master model. This instance represents a real object. Digital twins can be CAD models, and also behavioral models or data sets collected during operation. Some people even see digital twins as a bidirectional interface to support control of machinery.”Jonathan Masior, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
In a nut shell, a digital twin is a dynamic “wax casting” of an existing product or process. The raw material from which these digital mirror images are formed is data. Ideally, the database will be so precise and comprehensive that the twin can reflect the relevant properties of the original 100% and in real time.General Electric, for example, is already using digital twin technology for 800,000 industrial plants worldwide. The tech group uses this technology to power aircraft engines, wind turbines and entire power plants, to name but a few applications.
The key point is as follows:Digital twins are more than just virtual representations – they are functional, three-dimensional replicas of the original object or process. Just like human twins, they not only look like their siblings, but also behave and respond in the same way. Both digital and actual twins share the same DNA and characteristics. That is what makes digital twins so valuable. They make it possible to create a digital run-through of real-world scenarios – even if that world is still developing. They even allow us to test drive the distant future. We can use four sample fields of application to consider the enormous possibilities that this technology opens up for us.
“In the past, models existed in the minds of engineers or were created in the workshops of prototype builders. Today, they are moving into the digital world. And that’s just the beginning.”Timmo Sturm, Senior Director Value Service, Dassault Systèmes
Chapter 2 – The Charm of the Replicants
Chapter 2 – The Charm of the Replicants
Space Travel
What will this foreign world we are about to enter look like? What conditions await us in space? And what will it do to us and our vehicles?
No other industry faces issues like this, with this level of uncertainty, quite like the space travel industry. Someone who is building a robot for use on Mars will never have the opportunity to test it under real conditions; someone who is launching a moon lander simply cannot afford a breakdown. For this reason, the first digital twins were created by NASA, the US space agency, which used them to test robots in simulated atmospheres and to simulate conditions for factors such as drag, fuel combustion and heat during a flight.
No other industry faces issues like this, with this level of uncertainty, quite like the space travel industry. Someone who is building a robot for use on Mars will never have the opportunity to test it under real conditions; someone who is launching a moon lander simply cannot afford a breakdown. For this reason, the first digital twins were created by NASA, the US space agency, which used them to test robots in simulated atmospheres and to simulate conditions for factors such as drag, fuel combustion and heat during a flight.
“The ultimate vision for the digital twin is to create, test and build our equipment in a virtual environment.Only when we take it to where it works according to our requirements, we will physically manufacture it."John Vickers, NASA National Center for Advanced Research
Architecture
There are similar challenges in architecture: The same applies here, as it is necessary to simulate areas that do not yet exist in real terms but must be fully functional in the near future. The tradespeople involved in the construction can use digital, three-dimensional models to integrate their components and see how they will work. Planners and future users can explore and correct the building’s functions and dimensions before any money is spent on construction.
One example of this is the Center for Virtual Engineering (ZVE) at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart. During its planning phase, the 3,200-square-meter construction, the brainchild of UNStudio and ASPLAN Architekten, was recreated in a three-dimensional, to-scale virtual reality model. Every two to four weeks architects, planners, craftsmen and builders met in this simulated building model to discuss the construction. 3D glasses were put on and high-performance projectors started up to project the three-dimensional model onto a room-sized screen known as a powerwall. While the meeting participants looked around in the virtual model, motion-tracking cameras captured each of their movements and adjusted the viewing perspective on the powerwall to the viewer’s perspective. This enabled planners and users to explore, understand and optimize the building. They already “knew” it before it was actually built. Using this approach, factors such as room sizes, traffic routes, the arrangement of windows and so on could be adapted to suit requirements, because the future users had already walked through the rooms, inspected them and experienced them virtually.
“You can’t explain a complex building, let alone plan it, without three-dimensional visualization these days.”Stefan Hausladen, ASPLAN Architekten
Product Development
About 70 per cent of the components in a car are produced not by the manufacturer itself, but by its suppliers. This means that dozens of subcontractors, development partners and suppliers are involved in the design process of a car. Changes to one component have direct and indirect effects on many other components, on manufacturing processes and on production partners – all of which require modified plans. But with a digital twin for planning, it is easy to insert components and simulate the effects they have on components from other production partners.
“The automotive industry is currently discovering the potential of digital replicas for the industry comprehensively” says Dr. Markus Junginger, partner at MHP Consulting. “Cars currently have so many additional functions that they can no longer be mapped in a single domain, for instance as a physical prototype. Software and electronics now follow a completely different logic than hardware. That’s why digital twins are now automatically playing a larger role.”Additionally, digital twins could also play a role in the finished vehicle in the future. Specifically, when prospective buyers digitally configure their dream vehicle and test it out via an app or by means of a digital test drive with the dealer. Equipment options could be simulated in these virtual test drives in the same way as weather conditions and driving maneuvers.
Production Processes
Experts believe that the greatest potential lies in the planning, operation and maintenance of large production plants. On the one hand, the interaction between various stakeholders, components, technologies and influencing factors is so complex that it is scarcely possible any longer to rely on two-dimensional planning; on the other hand, faults, production defects and downtimes in industrial scenarios are particularly costly and painful.
Homag Group AG, based in Schopfloch in the German state of Swabia, is the world market leader in wood-processing machinery. Given this background, the company has been making increasing use of digital twins for the past three years.When Homag designs wood-processing systems for its customers, all machine components are simulated in three dimensions in parallel; material flows and production processes are simulated in real time and potential sources of error are identified. “Today, plants are becoming ever bigger, more complex and more individualized,” says Clemens Häffelin, Team Leader of Virtual Commissioning at Homag. “At the same time, they are expected to run with the lowest possible personnel and maintenance requirements. As a result, even medium-sized businesses can no longer do without digital twins.”
The benefits are obvious:With virtual replicas, equipment can be planned more accurately, installed more quickly, and operated with lower maintenance requirements. Employees can receive practice using the digital twin even while the production line is still being assembled in the factory, and are therefore already familiar with the machine from the first day of actual operation. The inevitable software updates, in turn, can be tested on the digital twin first. They are only installed on the original if they prove to be error-free. However, the real charm of digital twins is that they can function as time machines. They can be used to “fast forward” entire production processes and to see when which components will need to be serviced or replaced. This kind of “predictive maintenance” prevents costly downtimes and production outages. And if problems do occur, the digital twin can help with troubleshooting: You can rewind and search systematically for the source of the error in the digital replica. Using virtual reality glasses, service technicians can examine the digital twin, make changes to it and carry out testing.
“Digital twins offer our customers fascinating opportunities to test out innovations in a quasi-live scenario. Manufacturers and users can use them to test the design and application of many industrial plants, especially in remote and difficult-to-reach areas.”Tanja Rückert, President IoT at Digital Supply Chain, SAP
Chapter 3 – The Power of Habit
Chapter 3 – The Power of Habit
The potential efficiency gained from digital twins are significant. According to CADFEM, outages are reduced by 70 per cent in industrial production thanks to predictive maintenance, costs are reduced by 25 per cent, and downtime is reduced by 35 per cent. The bottom line is that digital twins are expected to deliver a huge productivity increase of 20 per cent. However, there is not yet a single company in Germany that relies entirely on digital twins in its planning processes.There are three clear reasons for this:
CostCreating a digital twin is far from a trivial matter – it requires powerful hardware and software and the expertise to work with them. Digital simulations are therefore currently only worthwhile for products or processes with significant added value.
StructuresMost digital twins consist of a host of digital mirror images combined. If you want to digitally mirror a factory in a realistic way, you must able to digitally map all your machinery, components and processes. In other words, you need a database for all these factors that is both integrated and organized.
PioneersThe question of whether a company can rely on digital twins end-to-end begins with the company’s development partners and suppliers. Such a process requires planners and decision-makers at all levels who no longer think in terms of two-dimensional plans, but rather use three-dimensional technology and dynamic modeling. In other words: People who are ready and able to break new ground.
“The technology available is currently five to ten years ahead of its actual use. Most companies require a generation change to accommodate such radical change. And this simply hasn’t yet happened in many German companies.”Gianni Di Loreto, Associated Partner, MHP
Chapter 4 – Venturing into a Digital Second Universe
Chapter 4 – Venturing into a Digital Second UniverseIt would be an exciting development if in future we were able to network an increasing number of digital models and simulate complex worlds in meta models. The growing data volumes required for such a development could in part be generated completely automatically. Firstly, an increasing number of products and processes are now being developed directly in digital data rooms rather than on drawing tables and in modeling workshops. More products therefore have a complete data set from the very start, from which digital twins can be formed.
And secondly, the real world is giving us ever more digital feedback on the things that happen out there. The number of Internet of Things endpoints is expected to have exceeded 20 billion by 2020. Some 750 million IoT spots will then be available in Germany alone. Many of these endpoints – cars, production lines, consumer goods – constantly transmit data to their digital twins. Using this data, we can gain insight into how the situation is developing, whether the items are actually still functional and whether they will require maintenance in the near future.
“As digital twins become more and more established in industry and as their fields of application more frequently extend beyond ad hoc operations, the orchestration of these twins will open up enormous opportunities to further harmonize business processes.”David Immerman, Business Analyst PTC
Chapter 5 – Outro
Chapter 5 – OutroIn other words: We have an ever-increasing number of data blocks from which we will soon be able to build increasingly intricate, networked digital worlds. Experts call it the “cybersystem of systems” – a kind of multi-complex parallel world in which various processes, products and scenarios can be played out. A world that opens up a multitude of other possibilities. Three examples:
Autonomous mobilityManufacturers still have to put their autonomous vehicles – and their control algorithms – through rigorous testing out in the real world. But if, in future, we could simulate entire cities complete with pedestrians and cyclists, weather changes and changes in road conditions, it would be preferable to complete this testing in the data room.
Artificial intelligenceIn the future, digital twins will be able to function as training systems for AI applications, thus significantly reducing the computing power required. For production plants to be upgraded with AI, for example, the scope for the corresponding algorithms must be defined beforehand. Using 3D models, the variances can be tested and thus the complexity of the calculations can be significantly reduced.
HealthcareWith the “Living Heart” project, Stanford University researchers were already simulating in detail back in 2017 how different drugs affect the human heart. Cardiac arrhythmias are still the most common side-effect that prevents the approval of cardiac medications. But with the “Living Heart”, which beats in the cloud, an almost unlimited number of drugs can be tested on the heart at the same time. This makes it possible to do away with costly and ethically controversial experiments on animals and humans. It is conceivable that other organs will also be simulated and tested in conjunction with drugs. One day, doctors may be able to simulate the individual organs of their patients. And just as with predictive maintenance of machinery, doctors could let their patients know what complications to expect, and when. It may well be possible in the future for doctors to test the effects of different treatments on a digital twin before prescribing them to their real patients. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that our family doctor will one day be able to create a digital twin of our body, which will be able to model the interaction of our organs, foreseeable indications of wear and tear, and even our death. Our digital twin would then be able to experience on our behalf what we can expect (or what we can avoid, if doctors intervene prophylactically). What emerges in front of our eyes is actually a digital parallel world in which we can construct, test and improve things. One day, manufacturers will know as much about their products in use as about those that are just going through the production processes. Service technicians will use digital twins to anticipate malfunctions long before they actually occur. Urban planners and traffic planners will model mobility in our metropolitan areas more intricately and ensure that we travel more safely and more quickly. Above all, this digital “second world” is: a realistic opportunity to make our real world better.
“Using the world of digital twins, we are just now discovering the very first islands upstream. We are simply fishing a few coconuts from the water and getting a vague idea of what a rich world awaits us over the horizon. We haven’t even explored 95 per cent of the possibilities, let alone tapped into them.”Timmo Sturm, Senior Director Value Service, Dassault Systèmes
Already discovered?
Factory of the unique
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The road ahead
Where is automated driving taking us? Plotting a route to 2020 and 2030.
Text:
Harald Willenbrock, a Hamburg-based copywriter and author, is a member of the brand eins editorial team, a co-founder and co-managing editor of outdoor magazine WALDEN, an author at GEO, A&W, NZZ-Folio, and others, as well as a corporate copywriter for brands such as BMW, Duravit, Porsche, and COR.
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Conquering the Parallel World
But an increasing number of them are beginning to appear, because digital twins have one amazing feature: We can use them to explore our future.
Digital twins can answer all these questions – if not today, then in the future.
Chapter 1 – Virtual Pretenders
“A digital twin is an instance developed from a master model. This instance represents a real object. Digital twins can be CAD models, and also behavioral models or data sets collected during operation. Some people even see digital twins as a bidirectional interface to support control of machinery.”
The key point is as follows:
“In the past, models existed in the minds of engineers or were created in the workshops of prototype builders. Today, they are moving into the digital world. And that’s just the beginning.”
Chapter 2 – The Charm of the Replicants
Space Travel
“The ultimate vision for the digital twin is to create, test and build our equipment in a virtual environment.Only when we take it to where it works according to our requirements, we will physically manufacture it."
Architecture
“You can’t explain a complex building, let alone plan it, without three-dimensional visualization these days.”
Product Development
Production Processes
Homag Group AG, based in Schopfloch in the German state of Swabia, is the world market leader in wood-processing machinery. Given this background, the company has been making increasing use of digital twins for the past three years.
The benefits are obvious:
“Digital twins offer our customers fascinating opportunities to test out innovations in a quasi-live scenario. Manufacturers and users can use them to test the design and application of many industrial plants, especially in remote and difficult-to-reach areas.”
Chapter 3 – The Power of Habit
There are three clear reasons for this:
Cost
Structures
Pioneers
“The technology available is currently five to ten years ahead of its actual use. Most companies require a generation change to accommodate such radical change. And this simply hasn’t yet happened in many German companies.”
Chapter 4 – Venturing into a Digital Second Universe
“As digital twins become more and more established in industry and as their fields of application more frequently extend beyond ad hoc operations, the orchestration of these twins will open up enormous opportunities to further harmonize business processes.”
Chapter 5 – Outro
Autonomous mobility
Artificial intelligence
Healthcare
“Using the world of digital twins, we are just now discovering the very first islands upstream. We are simply fishing a few coconuts from the water and getting a vague idea of what a rich world awaits us over the horizon. We haven’t even explored 95 per cent of the possibilities, let alone tapped into them.”
Already discovered?
