Simply put, a digital twin is a digital replica of a physical object or systems. By bringing together the virtual and physical worlds, technologists and data analyst can simulate real world scenarios digitally.

Modelling physical systems, processes and even people, can enable better design decisions, and uncover problems before they arise.

Take, for example, installing a heating system within a factory. By creating digital twins of the heating system within the building, the designers can simulate how the space will be heated, understand energy loss. Using this, they can change and optimise their designs accordingly.

By integrating real-time sensors within the physical world, profiles for digital twins can be formed which dictate their digital behaviour. Continuing with the example above, energy monitoring sensors can be installed to capture data on the status of heating units, power consumption, time of use and more. Pairing these with other sensors, such as airflow, humidity and ambient temperature gives an accurate digital representation of the building environment which can be used as inputs to simulations and predictive analytics.

The Internet of Things (IoT), a term coined in 1999, is a network of connected devices that can gather and communicate data. By integrating IoT sensors within physical objects, a digital twin of just about any ordinary object can be created, capturing real-time performance and status data. Once captured, the IoT device is capable of sending that information to be processed and analysed.

When looking at simple data capture and transfer, there are many off-the-shelf IoT devices that can be quickly deployed to a physical object to the get the data needed. And whilst good for straight  forward systems, off-the-shelf aren’t the only way. Often, for the more adventurous systems, IoT devices have bespoke requirements, in-depth sensors and can even contain data analytics within the device itself.

Here at AND, we have been turning pioneering ideas into reality since 1980. With over 40 years of know-how, and two revolutionary technology platform, c2 and tento, we supercharge the digital development journey.

Our c2 IoT development platform enables rapid IoT development, allowing use to deploy off-the-shelf, or bespoke sensors within weeks, capturing the right information for your digital twin  For more information on how we can help your next project, please get in touch at and@andtr.com, or calling 01992814655.