Hands-On Industrial Internet of Things

Advanced analytics and digital twins

The official definition of a digital twin is a representation of a physical asset. The first experiments with digital twins were developed by NASA to mirror outer space as a virtual image. Later, digital twin technology was used for product design and manufacturing, in techniques such as 3D prototyping. When more complex objects began to produce data, digital twins moved beyond manufacturing into the domains of the I-IoT, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. Having a digital copy of a physical object gives data scientists the ability to optimize efficiency and create other what-if scenarios.

Digital twins are used in the following sectors:

• Renewable energy: To emulate wind turbine plants and optimize ...