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Articles

CJICT: VOL. 10, NO. 1, JUNE 2022

Digital Twin Technology: A Review of Its Applications and Prominent Challenges

Submitted
July 12, 2022
Published
2022-07-12

Abstract

Digital twin is a virtual representation of physical product that is used as benchmark to evaluate, diagnose, optimize and supervise operational performance of products before venturing into mass full production in accordance with global standard. Digital twin merges virtual and physical objects together via sensors and IoT to transmit data and keep traces of objects interactivity within present environments. In virtual model environment, digital twin permits product troubleshooting and testing to minimize rate of failure and product defects during product manufacturing to enhance effectiveness and customers’ satisfaction. Digital twin is utilized throughout product life-cycle to simulate, optimize and predict product quality before final production is financed. Digital twin is beneficial to modern digital society because attitude of modern factory workers can be boosted to improve motivation to work. Digital twin has come to stay, future product suppliers may be required to put forward digital twin of their products beforehand for virtual lab testing before making order while suppliers that fail to comply may be left over. With emergence of digital twin, virtual testing can be conducted on proposed products before finding their ways into physical marketplaces. Business sector remains most beneficiaries of digital twin to predict present and future state of physical product via digital peer analysis. Today, digital twin application can support enterprises by improving product performances, decision making and customers’ satisfactions on logistic and operational workflow. However, in this survey of digital twin research, efforts have been made to review in detail about digital twin, its impact and benefits to modern society, its architecture; security challenges and how solutions are proffered. It is believed that ICT experts, manufacturers and industries will leverage on this research to improve QoS (Quality of Service) for new and future products to take full advantage of profits on investment returns via digital twin.