TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterising the Digital Twin
T2 - A systematic literature review
AU - Jones, David
AU - Snider, Chris
AU - Nassehi, Aydin
AU - Yon, Jason
AU - Hicks, Ben
N1 - Funding Information:
The work reported in this paper has been undertaken as part of the project: Improving the product development process through integrated revision control and twinning of digital-physical models during prototyping. The work was conducted at the University of Bristol in the Design and Manufacturing Futures Lab ( http://www.dmf-lab.co.uk ) and is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) , Grant reference EP/R032696/1 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 University of Bristol
PY - 2020/6/5
Y1 - 2020/6/5
N2 - While there has been a recent growth of interest in the Digital Twin, a variety of definitions employed across industry and academia remain. There is a need to consolidate research such to maintain a common understanding of the topic and ensure future research efforts are to be based on solid foundations. Through a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis of 92 Digital Twin publications from the last ten years, this paper provides a characterisation of the Digital Twin, identification of gaps in knowledge, and required areas of future research. In characterising the Digital Twin, the state of the concept, key terminology, and associated processes are identified, discussed, and consolidated to produce 13 characteristics (Physical Entity/Twin; Virtual Entity/Twin; Physical Environment; Virtual Environment; State; Realisation; Metrology; Twinning; Twinning Rate; Physical-to-Virtual Connection/Twinning; Virtual-to-Physical Connection/Twinning; Physical Processes; and Virtual Processes) and a complete framework of the Digital Twin and its process of operation. Following this characterisation, seven knowledge gaps and topics for future research focus are identified: Perceived Benefits; Digital Twin across the Product Life-Cycle; Use-Cases; Technical Implementations; Levels of Fidelity; Data Ownership; and Integration between Virtual Entities; each of which are required to realise the Digital Twin.
AB - While there has been a recent growth of interest in the Digital Twin, a variety of definitions employed across industry and academia remain. There is a need to consolidate research such to maintain a common understanding of the topic and ensure future research efforts are to be based on solid foundations. Through a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis of 92 Digital Twin publications from the last ten years, this paper provides a characterisation of the Digital Twin, identification of gaps in knowledge, and required areas of future research. In characterising the Digital Twin, the state of the concept, key terminology, and associated processes are identified, discussed, and consolidated to produce 13 characteristics (Physical Entity/Twin; Virtual Entity/Twin; Physical Environment; Virtual Environment; State; Realisation; Metrology; Twinning; Twinning Rate; Physical-to-Virtual Connection/Twinning; Virtual-to-Physical Connection/Twinning; Physical Processes; and Virtual Processes) and a complete framework of the Digital Twin and its process of operation. Following this characterisation, seven knowledge gaps and topics for future research focus are identified: Perceived Benefits; Digital Twin across the Product Life-Cycle; Use-Cases; Technical Implementations; Levels of Fidelity; Data Ownership; and Integration between Virtual Entities; each of which are required to realise the Digital Twin.
KW - Digital Twin
KW - Virtual Twin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081219520&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cirpj.2020.02.002
DO - 10.1016/j.cirpj.2020.02.002
M3 - Review Article
SN - 1878-0016
VL - 29
SP - 36
EP - 52
JO - CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology
JF - CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology
IS - A
ER -