It’s easy to think of #DigitalTwins as representing discrete systems & subsystems, like an industrial #robot that builds a car in a factory. The reality is that physical entities like humans, machines & environmental systems don’t live in a vacuum. #IoT #IIoT
They often operate in larger systems of systems with relationships & interactions with other entities. If I were to collect a number of industrial robots that work together, I might create a “group” called “assembly line.” Unfortunately, using a simple group construct would do this collection of robots a disservice. The assembly line group should actually be a digital twin itself where its telemetry, virtual, static, and command properties have defined causal relationships with all the robots that comprise this assembly line.
There’s a parent/child relationship between the assembly line twin and all the robot twins. Furthermore, there are peer relationships between all the child robots. This literally brings the assembly line to life allowing you to monitor it via your IoT platform and analytics.
Collections of assembly line digital twins can then come together to create a “composite digital twin” called a factory.