Web-Based Digital Twin
web frameworks specialize either on development of the backend , frontend or both ( full-stack ). These libraries provide pre-programmed functions and simplify the development of new applications . Some of the most popular web frameworks include jQuery , React , and Angular [ 23 ]. These support the developer in the creation of a web application , which for the frontend mostly contain the programming languages Hypertext Markup Language ( HTML ), Cascading Style Sheets ( CSS ) and JavaScript . HTML determines the structure , CSS the presentation and JavaScript the logic of web applications . The programming language chosen to implement the backend depends on the web application . Languages used here include C , C ++, Java , Python , PHP and others .
A considerable number of scientific papers already use web technologies for the conceptualization and implementation of the digital twin . Schroeder et . al . [ 24 ] employ web services in combination with augmented reality for visualizing the data of the digital twin . Souza et . al . [ 25 ] present an architecture for a digital twin based on Industrial Internet of Things technologies . Liu et . al . [ 26 ] utilize the digital twin for modeling and web-based remote control of cyber-physical production systems . In contrary to approaches that use web technologies only partially , we would like to present a completely web-based digital twin in the following .
EXPECTED FEATURES
What features do we expect from a web-based digital twin ? In the following , we would like to list some essential characteristics we determined for our approach condensed from scientific literature [ 24 , 27 – 29 ].
Representation of data : The digital twin must represent consistently all relevant data of the specific asset . This includes the characteristics and information about the asset , data collected by sensors and any asset-related data from the entire lifecycle from development to operation and maintenance . The data can either be located on the digital twin itself or accessed by reference to external sources .
Representation of behavior : The digital twin must be able to represent the behavior of the asset . The behavior of an asset can usually be represented by mathematical equations that describe fundamental physical , chemical , and biological phenomena . It can be analytical models that run on a computer . Or it may be software in general , which describes the logic of a system and dictates it by electronics . All these models and computation determine the changes of an asset over time and thus its dynamic behavior .
Controlled bidirectional connection : The digital twin must be able to establish a bidirectional connection with the asset . This connection does not necessarily have to exist all the time , as tests may be performed on the digital twin without directly influencing the asset , for example . For this reason , we do not consider the bidirectional connection to be present all the time but controlled , to also enable independence of the systems . This is also beneficial during failure of a system .
- 6 - March 2021