A "digital twin" is a online mathematical model/function/simulation that is continuously fed with sensor input data.
It's a new term for an old idea that has been around for decades in manufacturing; but what's old is new again in the context of IoT devices.
And it's only the first step -- manufacturing has gone a few steps farther.
Digital twins are primarily concerned with constructing a digital representation of a physical process/asset.
Model-based predictive control [1] (developed in 1980) has been used commercially to not only automatically control said assets, but do so optimally (by iteratively solving an optimization problem based on a mathematical model at every time period, and then reading new measurements off the feedback loop to update itself).
This type of optimal control technology is the reason why oil refineries are run so efficiently today.
No man, blogs always need at least 3 paragraphs of wasted time aka exposition. Haven't you ever looked for a recipe online? No one can get to the point and actually show you the recipe, they need to first force you to read stories about their childhood that you really don't care about when all you want is to make buffalo chicken dip.
It has value to ease the reader into it and make them feel comfortable. The other extreme is Wikipedia which is often hard to understand because it's so direct. You can use whichever on you prefer!
I think smart young people sometimes forget there are lot of older professionals who aren't as quick at learning as them. I was surprised how much people appreciate slow boring video tutorials which I sometimes find frustrating. Engineers sometimes go on 2-day courses to learn to use some software. And they're simple stuff, way easier than a university class. They could have just googled how to do it if they were 25 and full of excitement for the hot new tech.
It's a new term for an old idea that has been around for decades in manufacturing; but what's old is new again in the context of IoT devices.
And it's only the first step -- manufacturing has gone a few steps farther.
Digital twins are primarily concerned with constructing a digital representation of a physical process/asset.
Model-based predictive control [1] (developed in 1980) has been used commercially to not only automatically control said assets, but do so optimally (by iteratively solving an optimization problem based on a mathematical model at every time period, and then reading new measurements off the feedback loop to update itself).
This type of optimal control technology is the reason why oil refineries are run so efficiently today.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_predictive_control