b'Engineer Innovation | The Digital TwinThe Anatomy of a Digital TwinA checklist to sort the digital twins from the digital sinsBy Stephen Ferguson, Siemens Digital Industries SoftwareIn the 2018 Gartner Hype Cycle, digital twins occupied the very top of the peak of inflated expectations (which is the state of maximum hype). The Hype Cycle predicts that, after this point, new technologies inevitably plunge into the trough of disillusionment (where interest wanes as early adopters fail to realize the promised potential), before hopefully emerging onto the plateau of productivity (mainstream adoption). Since digital twins did not appear on the 2019 Hype Cycle, we can only presume that they are already descending rapidly into the trough. While I am confident that they will eventually emerge into productivity, while we are waiting, we should probably get a few things straight. Like what actually is a digital twin?If we are truly going to move beyond the hype and into productivity, we need to be honest with ourselves, and each other, about what a digital twin is. But how to define one?The answer, I think, is anatomy. In the same way that an anthropologist might describe the difference between a human and a chimpanzee (both apes), or a zoologist might represent the difference between a monkey and a Everyone is talking about digital twins.squirrel (both mammals), we need to And what is more, in the CAE world,define an essential set of characteristics everyone suddenly seems to have a hardthat every digital twin must exhibit to drive full of them. But is every simulationjustify being called one.model a digital twin? In this article, well explore what digital twins are, and comeBut before we get into the details, its up with a simple list of criteria that willworth spending a little time to familiarize allow you to tell if your simulation modelourselves with the basic concept, which is a digital twin (or a digital sin).is incredibly simple:Beyond the hype A digital twin comprises a Real Space (a Digital twins are quite literally in a statephysical asset), a Virtual Space (a digital of maximum hype, according to themodel), and data flow between them, Gartner Hype Cycle, which plots newsuch that the digital model can be technologies from emergence throughupdated to reflect the state of the to adoption in the market. physical asset.26'