Digital Twin & Digital Engineering Overview

This section provides an overview of Digital Engineering and Digital Twin technologies, including a formal definition and information about Digital Engineering core concepts, origins, characteristics, enabling technologies, and variations.

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Digital Engineering Paradigm Synopsis

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Description
Definition:

Digital Engineering: Digital Engineering is an umbrella term referring to the synergistic application of electronic and software technologies to facilitate the architecture, analysis, design, simulation, building, and testing of complex software-intensive systems-of-systems. The ultimate goal of Digital Engineering is to produce Digital Twins, or digital replicas of real and potential physical assets (i.e., “Physical Twins”) that include both inanimate and animate physical entities (e.g., hardware, software, “wetware” [biological life]), with broad usages and where for Systems Integration & Testing purposes the former are largely indistinguishable from the latter.

For more information about Digital Enginering, see DE FAQ: What is Digital Engineering?.
Aliases:
Digital Twin, Virtual Engineering
Process Classification:
Engineering Paradigms —> Systems Engineering —> Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) —> Digital Engineering
Core Concepts:
Some core Digital Engineering concepts are defined below:

Digital Twin: A Digital Twin is a real-time virtual replica of a real-world physical system or process (i.e., a “Physical Twin”) that serves as its indistinguishable digital counterpart for practical purposes, such as systems simulation, integration, testing, and maintenance. In order to pragmatically achieve indistinguishability between Digital Twins and their Physical Twin counterparts, massive coarse- and fine-grained ModSim (Modeling & Simulation) is typically required. From a pragmatic Systems Engineering perspective, Physical Twins represent "Systems-of-Systems" and Digital Twins represent "Simulations-of-Simulations" of "Systems-of-Systems".

For more information about Digital Twins, see DE FAQ: What is a Digital Twin?.

Digital Twin vs. Physical Twin Equivalency Test
Enterprise Architecture Framework (EAF):

What is the Digital Twin Enterprise Architecture Framework™ (DTEAF™)?

FAQ Variant(s): What is the DTEAF?; What is an Enterprise Architecture Framework for Digital Twins?
Definition

Digital Twin Enterprise Architecture Framework™ (DTEAF™): The DTEAF is a reference Enterprise Architecture Framework (EAF) for architecting, designing, building, testing, and integrating Digital Twins (virtual Simulations-of-Simulations) that are indistinguishable from their Physical Twin (physical Systems-of-Systems) counterparts. The architecture infrastructure of DTEAF is the 6D System M-Model™ Enterprise Architecture Framework for Agile MBSE™, which has been customized to support the following core Digital Twin technologies, which are listed as related technology pairs: Massive Mathematical & Dynamic ModSim; Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML); 3D CAD & 3D Printing; and Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR). The DTEAF is designed to be highly scalable, simulatable, and customizable.

DTEAF is derived from 25+ years experience designing and implementing recursively scalable and simulatable Enterprise Architecture Frameworks for Model-Driven Development (MDD) and Agile Model-Based Systems Engineering (Agile MBSE) applications. Since both the 6D System M-Model reference EAF and the DTEAF are specified using recursive architecture and design patterns using the OMG SysML™ architecture modeling language standard, they can be implemented and customized using popular architecture modeling tools that support that standard (e.g., MagicDraw™/Cameo™, Sparx Enterprise Architect™).

Digital Twin Enterprise Architecture Framework™ (DTEAF™)
Process Origin:

Etymology
[Digital Engineering = digital + engineering]

  • digital <-- [Etymology: Latin digitālis, from digitus (“finger, toe”) + *-alis (“-al”)] Property of representing values as discrete (typically binary) numbers rather than a continuous spectrum (cf. rational, irrational numbers).

  • engineering <-- engineer + ing <-- Middle English engyneour, engineour, <-- Old French engigneor, engignier <-- Latin securitas <-- Medieval Latin ingeniator (“one who creates or one who uses an engine”) <-- Latin ingenium (“nature, native talent, skill”). The application of mathematics and the physical sciences to develop technologies that address the needs of humanity.
Current Specification:
Open Standards Work-in-Progress: Digital Twin Consortium
Process Characteristics:
• General purpose?
[Applies to any System-of-Systems fractal problem.]
• Multi-disciplinary?
[Combines Agile MBSE, Mathematical & Behavioral ModSim, AI & Machine Learning (ML), 3D CAD/CAM & 3D Printing, and Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR) engineering disciplines]
• Mature open standards?
[Standards and frameworks relatively immature]
• Rigorous discipline?
/ [Approaches based on proven Agile MBSE + ModSim principles and best practices are pulling ahead.]
• Scaleable?
[Can scale for projects with 100+ engineers.]
• Supports Agile or Lean processes?
[Must be adapted for Agile + Lean methods.]
• Automated tool support?
/ [Tool vendors have not yet risen to the massive Simulation-of-Simulations challenge.]
Enabling Technologies:
  • Agile Model-Based Systems Engineering
  • Mathematical & Behavioral ModSim
  • AI & Machine Learning (ML)
  • 3D CAD/CAM & 3D Printing
  • Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
Process Usages:
• Commercial applications across diverse domains
• Defense-Aerospace applications

• Estimated Number of Users: N/A
Process Variations:
Digital Engineering is an emerging multi-discipline; distinctive process variations have not yet emerged.
• Virtual Engineering
Tool Support:
See Digital Engineering Tools section for selected reviews of popular software tools that support DE applications.

DIGITAL TWIN WORKS, DIGITAL TWIN ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE FRAMEWORK, DTEAF, AGILE MODEL-BASED SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, AGILE MBSE, and AGILE MBSE 6D EAF are trademarks of PivotPoint Technology Corporation. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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