{"id":2731,"date":"2024-08-17T08:46:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T06:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scnode.com\/?page_id=2731"},"modified":"2025-03-22T10:10:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T09:10:21","slug":"level-of-abstraction-digital-twin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/scnode.com\/index.php\/level-of-abstraction-digital-twin\/","title":{"rendered":"Level of abstraction digital twin"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Digital twin entities: a matter of size and level of abstraction<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What is a physical entity?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As explored in the previous article of the digital twin collection<\/a>, digital twins are fundamentally based on the replication of a physical entity within a virtual environment<\/strong>. By creating a digital counterpart of this entity, organizations can simulate, monitor, and optimize performance in ways that would be difficult, impossible or very expensive with the physical entity alone.<\/p>

The term “entity” is intentionally broad as it can refer to virtually anything in the physical world. The physical entity could be as small<\/strong> as a single component within a machine or as large<\/strong> as an entire city or even a global supply chain network<\/strong>. This flexibility<\/strong> is one of the defining characteristics that make digital twins so powerful and versatile<\/strong> across various industries.<\/p>

While the clustering of digital twins based on their scope and type presented in the previous article<\/a> is a good excercise that allow to appreciate the variety and vastness of the digital twin realm, it is time to delve into the nature of physical entity.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why Does the Physical Entity Matter?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The nature of the physical entity being replicated significantly influences the complexity, inputs, outputs, and key questions that a digital twin are able to address. Different entities require different types of data to create an accurate and functional digital twin. Additionally, the insights generated by the digital twin, as well as the questions it can answer, will vary depending on what is being replicated.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

For instance:<\/p>