Data and Digital Twins

Data

When we talk about #digitalevolution, #smartmanufacturing, #industry40 or Internet-of Things (#IoT) the common factor is #data.??

Whether coming from simulations or sensors, today the challenge is not about having data available; it’s more about efficiently and effectively using it.

This is a well-known problem among companies trying to distill the needed information from their large data pools.?

For this purpose, in the heart of any application around data, there are three main steps to be tackled:??

1.?????????????????Data preparation??

2.?????????????????Data processing??

3.?????????????????Result visualization??

Data preparation

Raw data coming from sensors is often useless if not properly prepared.

Signals may come from different sources in various formats and must be homogenized.

Often indicators are calculated in both time and frequency domains to summarize their content. ?

Data processing

Data processing is often the phase where artificial intelligence (#AI) together with the traditional equation-based approach, integrated in a #digitaltwin, help to make the smart use of the data.??In this phase, the prepared data are processed with different algorithms to fulfill various tasks: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive or prescriptive.

Result visualization

It’s never just a matter of calculation. No result is useful if not made available effectively.

Real-time dashboards equipped with many types of charts and graphs are employed here. They are often integrated in IoT platforms which are the orchestrators of operational digital twins. ?

The Future

Companies will be increasingly investing in technology able to integrate and ease these three phases in real-time for quick monitoring and better optimization of their systems and processes.?

Digital Twins will be increasingly adopted to process sensors data coming from the field and turn it into a readable form by unveiling or augmenting the information contained in it - e.g., calculating theoretical key performance indicators (KPIs), correction actions, detecting anomalies in the system.??

The role of software vendors is on the one hand to democratize the needed technology as much as possible, on the other hand to act as true partners helping and supporting the digital transformation guiding companies in their digital journeys.??