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Digital twin solutions

These days, a “Digital Twin” is a digital (virtual) model of any objects, systems, processes or people. It accurately reproduces the form and actions of the original and is synchronized with it. A digital twin is needed to simulate what will happen to the original under certain conditions. This helps to save time and money (for example, if we are talking about complex and expensive equipment), and to avoid harm to people and the environment.

The concept of digital twins was proposed by University of Michigan professor Michael Greaves back in 2002. “The Mirror Spaces Model” was the first name of the concept.

Greaves offered the following definition at the time: “A digital twin is a set of virtual information constructs that fully describes a potential or actual industrial product: from its atomic functions to its geometry. Under ideal conditions, all the information that can be obtained from a product can be obtained from its digital twin.”

What are the digital twinning:

prototype (DTP) – a virtual analogue of the real object, which contains all the data for the production of the original;

instance (DTI) – contains data on all the characteristics and operation of the physical object, including a three-dimensional model, and operates in parallel with the original;

aggregate twin (DTA) – a computing system of digital twins and real objects, which can be managed from a single center and exchange data within.

The digital twin for construction services is important at 2 stages:

  • design and construction
  • operation

The purpose of digital twinning for construction is to bridge the gap between form and function. On paper, in a drawing, space is a series of measurements. During construction, it is part of a broader structure. When it comes time to determine the purpose of that space, the designers need to anticipate everything. Who will use it? What purpose will it be used for? The digital twin collects and fleshes out this information.

Because the digital twin remains useful even after construction is complete, it is a bridge from design to building management. For example, a smart building includes robust connected technologies during the construction phase. These systems are connected to the digital twin, allowing facility managers to control them as part of the tenant’s technology stack. Further connecting to integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) turns the digital twin into the source of truth for space and asset management.