A six-layer architecture for the digital twin: a manufacturing case study implementation

Industry 4.0, cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are current focusses in automation and data exchange in manufacturing, arising from the rapid increase in capabilities in information and communication technologies and the ubiquitous internet. A key enabler for the advances promised by CPPSs is the concept of a digital twin, which is the virtual representation of a real-world entity, or the physical twin. An important step towards the success of Industry 4.0 is the establishment of practical reference architectures. This paper presents an architecture for such a digital twin, which enables the exchange of data and information between a remote emulation or simulation and the physical twin. The architecture comprises different layers, including a local data layer, an IoT Gateway layer, cloud-based databases and a layer containing emulations and simulations. The architecture can be implemented in new and legacy production facilities, with a minimal disruption of current installations. This architecture provides a service-based and real-time enabled infrastructure for vertical and horizontal integration. To evaluate the architecture, it was implemented for a small, but typical, physical manufacturing system component.