A software engineering point of view on digital twin architecture

Gaelic Bechu, Antoine Beugnard, Caroline G.L. Cao, Quentin Perez, Christelle Urtado, Sylvain Vauttier

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Digital twins, along with Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, have been identified as one of the key technologies for Industry 4.0. However, the definition of Digital Twin (DT) is still abstract and context-dependent. In this paper, we present a metamodel that supports concrete and operational descriptions of digital twin deployment. This metamodel encompasses the different aspects of deployment, including the definition of hardware and software components that compose the layered cyber-physical architectures of the digital twin, along with the installation and instantiation tasks that compose deployment processes. Multiple configurations can also be defined to support the deployment of a digital twin in different execution contexts. The relevance of this metamodel was evaluated by two case studies. The first consists in deploying the digital twin of a cobot in a simulation environment. The second applies the approach in a home automation environment. In both cases, our metamodel provides complete and precise descriptions of the deployment process and thus constitutes a viable first step towards a model-driven approach for digital twin deployment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2022 IEEE 27th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA 2022
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781665499965
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event27th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA 2022 - Stuttgart, Germany
Duration: Sep 6 2022Sep 9 2022

Publication series

NameIEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA
Volume2022-September
ISSN (Print)1946-0740
ISSN (Electronic)1946-0759

Conference

Conference27th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA 2022
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityStuttgart
Period9/6/229/9/22

Keywords

  • Architecture Deployment
  • Digital Twin
  • Model-Driven Engineering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications

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