Designing Digital Twins for Enhanced Reusability

Paper i proceeding, 2024

PROBLEM STATEMENT: Digital Twins (DTs) are dynamic virtual models that mirror the behavior and characteristics of physical systems. They are emerging as a crucial tool in digital transformation, adaptable for various applications. DTs are used to simulate, analyze, and optimize physical and virtual assets [10, 11]. However, their complexity and resource-intensive nature make them challenging to integrate into real settings. Therefore, we propose that an efficient architectural design, flexibility, adaptability, and interoperability is key to achieving these objectives. Furthermore, by enhancing these aspects of DTs, we also contribute to their sustainability across technological, environmental, and economic dimensions. This work mainly explores reusability in the context of DTs - the ability to apply DTs across various contexts with minimal modification. The growing academic interest in this aspect is highlighted by a significant increase in related publications (from 1520 in 2019, to 6310 by 2022), with an expanding focus on enhancing DTs' reusability across diverse fields. Moreover, this study reviews various architecture designs of DTs. For instance, Arrao-Vargas and Constantinou propose a modular, adaptive DT design that includes real-time autonomous functions [1]. Redelinghuys et al. propose a six-level architecture that increases the intelligence and communication of DTs by integrating sensors and IoT gateways [8]. Bonnaud explores the integration of production management systems with IoT, improving production flows [4]. In addition, the microservices approach proposed by Bellavista et al. offers a containerized architecture for DT, focusing on service orchestration and efficient management of DT models [3]. The trend towards developing reusable DTs is driven by the need to address limitations in traditional single-layer service methodologies, which often lead to large, isolated models with low maintainability, compatibility, and high design and maintenance costs [12]. Despite the academic focus on developing reusable DTs, many current implementations remain as passive models of physical objects, lacking industry standardization and documentation [7]. For these reasons, we address the following research questions: RQ1: What are the primary factors that enhance the reusability of DTs and their components? RQ2: What are the common challenges and barriers to achieving the reusability of DTs in different industrial applications? RQ3: How can DTs be designed to prioritize reusability, and what tools and practices must be considered?.