An open source approach to the design and implementation of Digital Twins for Smart Manufacturing

This paper discusses the design of a Digital Twin (DT) demonstrator for Smart Manufacturing, following an open source approach for implementation. Open source technology can comprise of software, hardware and hybrid solutions that nowadays drive Smart Manufacturing. The major potential of open source technology in Smart Manufacturing lies in enabling interoperability and in reducing the capital costs of designing and implementing new manufacturing solutions. After presenting our motivation to adopt an open source approach for the design of a DT demonstrator, we identify the major implementation requirements of Smart Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs) and DTs. A conceptualisation of the core components of a DT demonstrator is provided and three technology building blocks for the realisation of a DT have been identified. These technology building blocks include components for the management of data, models and services. From the conceptual model of the DT demonstrator, we derived a high-level micro-services architecture and provided a case study infrastructure for the implementation of the DT demonstrator based on available open source technologies. The paper closes with research questions to be addressed in the future.