A Twin item or unit is an object from the Digital Twin. It can define a physical or logical concept : e.g. machine, area, asset, equipment, software, controller, and more. Essentially, each twin represents a specific element within a digital model, mirroring its real-world counterpart or abstract idea. By capturing the state, properties, and behaviors of these elements, twins provide a comprehensive view of their interactions and dependencies.

In practical terms, a twin is more than just a representation of an object; For instance, a twin could represent a piece of machinery, where it gathers and displays operational data such as temperature, vibration, and energy consumption. The following articles will cover all you need to know in regards to Twins, like creating, annexing datapoints to them and updating its metadata.

Example of a twin unit

In the platform, a unit can represent a physical plant that contains various machines, such as motors. Each of these motors can have multiple sensors attached, responsible for collecting data on specific components like motor bearings. For example, within a motor, sensors could be installed to monitor the temperature, vibration, and rotational speed of each bearing. This data gathered from the datapoints is then used to track performance, detect anomalies, and predict maintenance needs, all of which are essential for optimizing operations.

Parent-child hierarchy

Each parent unit, such as this physical plant, serves as a structured and organized representation of real-world entities within the platform. The unit is divided into what we called child units—like motors—where each motor is further broken down into individual sensors. This parent/child hierarchy ensures that data is not only collected efficiently but also easily accessible and actionable, allowing for deeper insights and more precise control over the entire operational system.

Types of twin units

As you already saw, there are mutiple types of twin units that you can find inside the platform:

• Area: It can represent a country or a plant or a region and is at the top of the hierarchy. Machines and equipment are linked to it, to contextualize them. In our example from the sample data file provided we are going to create three plant units:
  • Plant A located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Plant B located in Brussels, Belgium.
  • Plant C located in Philadelphia, USA.
• Machine: The unit object where we are going to replicate all ourassets and machines. In our example we will create a motor unit in each plant
  • Motor 1 will be located inside Plant A
  • Motor 2 will be located inside Plant B
  • Motor 3 will be located inside Plant C
• Equipment : Sensors and other technical hardware from our machinery will be recreated using this twin. Equipments are the bottom element of the hierarchy and are required to contextualize the individual elements of the machine. In our example, each motor will have 4 (four) bearing sensors, that will be sending their information to the platform.

Now that you know the basics, we will explore all the powerful features you can unlock with your twins on the platform in the following articles.