At the "two sessions" in Shanghai, which is currently being held, the scientific and technological term "digital twin" has become a hot topic of discussion among deputies and committee members. In the government work report made by Mayor Gong Zheng, he also mentioned the digital twin: "Promote digital technology to carry out all-round and full-chain transformation of traditional industries, accelerate the innovative development of the industrial Internet, build 30 digital empowerment platforms for manufacturing, build digital twin enterprises, and build 40 new demonstration smart factories." ”
What is a digital twin? Chen Hui, deputy director of the Information Consulting and Research Center of the Shanghai Institute of Scientific and Technological Information, introduced that this technology is in a digital form, dynamically presenting the past and current behavior or processes of physical entities. In layman's terms, it is the application of digital technology to simulate physical products, manufacturing processes and even entire factories to create a digital twin for them. In 2003, scholars at the University of Michigan first proposed the concept. In recent years, with the rapid development of big data, 5G, edge computing and other technologies, the digital twin has changed from a simple concept to an advanced manufacturing technology, which is regarded by the well-known information technology consulting company Gartner as one of the top ten strategic technology trends in the future.
Behind Tesla's success, there is a digital twin technology support. In 2011, the company set up a "design studio" to empower its factory digital twins. As a test of the industrialization of this technology, one of the reasons for Tesla's success is that it uses the digital twin of NASA for "dimensionality reduction" in view of the characteristics of automobile manufacturing, that is, to reduce the simulation accuracy requirements and simplify the relevant processes, because the manufacturing accuracy requirements of the car are lower than that of the spacecraft. Tesla uses the digital twin model as the carrier of all the data, analyzes and manufactures on this basis, a process that is constantly cyclical and improving, providing digital solutions for every car the company produces.
Workers work at Tesla's Shanghai factory. Xinhua News Agency
In addition to manufacturing, this technology has also begun to be applied to areas such as smart cities in recent years. In the process of urban digital transformation, digital twins can integrate with city-level trusted information exchange and collaboration networks, urban situation awareness, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to build a holographic perception and intelligent management big data platform covering urban construction, community governance, infrastructure, transportation systems, integrate, dispatch and optimize urban resources from a global perspective, and realize scientific governance of urban operation.
For example, the practical platform of Xuhui District Urban Transportation Center, which was built by Yaoke Intelligent, reproduces the vivid characteristics of 8 square kilometers of xujiahui business circle and Longhua Temple through static three-dimensional scenes and dynamic video screens, presenting a real three-dimensional immersion. "We developed the three-dimensional digital twin," explains Dr. Shi Zhiru, CEO of the company, "if the platform does not have this base, the two-dimensional video presented on the big screen of the management department is fragmented and does not bring a sense of space to the city managers." ”
A 3D video fusion platform built by YSICO Intelligent
Talking about Shanghai's innovation sources in the field of digital twins, Chen Hui believes that in the basic support layer, Shanghai has a good foundation, the Internet of Things and other technologies are leading in China; in the data interaction layer, Shanghai has a lot of accumulation in 5G, sensors, etc., but needs to pay attention to the innovation trend of emerging technologies; in the model building layer and simulation analysis layer, involving modeling, simulation, control software and related big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, virtual reality / augmented reality / mixed reality / extended reality (VR / AR / MR / XR) and other technologies, Shanghai needs to increase research and development efforts, can not be subject to people in this regard.
With the popularity of the concept of "metaverse", digital twins have also attracted more and more social attention. In a sense, digital twins create a "metacosm" of manufacturing. As a platform technology for the virtual world to interact with the real society, the digital twin is also a cornerstone for building a "metaverse". The collaborative innovation of digital twins and cutting-edge technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR is expected to transform the "metacosm" from a concept into a mature product, driving the development of emerging industries.