By Saeed Moradi, R&D Specialist - Innovation
In the 1960s NASA decided to create a replica of its spacecraft to simulate the systems in the Apollo 13 mission. This was done to adapt the simulations of the spacecraft's performance to the new environment of space and troubleshoot different issues during the mission. In the costruction industry, with the emergence of 2D CAD in the 1980s and 3D models in the 2000s, digitization of building and construction information started gaining momentum and enabled cloud based shared environments. The concept of Digital Twin could then be introduced and help the industry to minimize errors and increase productivity. The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and mixed reality has also boosted the adoption of the digital twin concept in the construction industry. Currently, digital twin market is valued USD 6.9 bn and it is expected to grow to USD 73.5 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 60.6%.1
A Digital Twin is a dynamic virtual representation of a physical entity or system that is synchronized at a specified frequency and fidelity. In the construction industry, a digital twin acts as a virtual model that simulates the performance of an asset in real time and can be used for tracking and analyzing various parameters related to a building such as occupancy rate, energy consumption, maintenance cost, etc. A digital twin helps architects and engineers make better decisions and provide higher-quality design solutions.
Building a Digital Twin requires 3D models of the built environment that can be enabled by BIM processes and generated by Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or using scanning technologies such as 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry. Once the models are ready, various sensory and visional data can be added to the Digital Twin to enhance the accuracy of the model and facilitate analysis. Digital twins can be further enhanced by virtual reality and interactive visualizations to allow users to access, consume and control information in real time.
The future of the digital twin lies in its ability to help transform the construction industry into one that is more data-driven and efficient. Advances in technology have allowed for the development of smart sensors, scanners, and robotics that allow for the construction of more reliable and accurate models that can be used for simulation and analysis purposes.
With emergence of new technologies not only the physical entities can be modelled but construction workers also can have digital twins. So all assets and people in the process will have virtual representations and their interactions can be captured in virtual environments, like the metaverse or augmented reality, and real world like on worksites.
(1) MarketsandMarkets, Digital Twin Market Global Forecast to 2027, 2022.