A Model-Based Framework for Developing DTs in Industry 4.0
2026-07-03 • Software Engineering
Software Engineering
AI summaryⓘ
The authors explain that Digital Twins (DTs) are virtual copies of real machines used to help make better decisions in Industry 4.0. They point out that creating DTs is usually hard and takes a lot of work. To fix this, the authors created a tool that automatically builds DTs by using existing models of the real machines (called physical twins) and adding some extra parts. They tested this tool on four examples and showed it works well when the setup matches their needs.
Digital TwinIndustry 4.0Cyber-Physical SystemsInternet of ThingsPhysical TwinAutomationModelingBehavioral ModelsStructural ModelsFramework
Authors
Lina Bilal, Benoit Combemale, Jean-Marc Jézéquel, Quentin Perez
Abstract
With the rise of Industry 4.0 driven by the integration of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT), the use of Digital Twins (DTs) has significantly increased over the past decade, as they provide detailed insights and support well-informed decision-making. However, the lack of standardized methodologies, in addition to the time and resources involved for building them remains an important challenge. Building on the idea that engineering models of the physical twin (PT) are often available, we propose a tool-supported framework that automates the derivation of DTs by leveraging existing structural and behavioral models of the PT and extending them with additional models to build a comprehensive DT. To demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, we applied it to four different use cases, in which we automatically derived DT instances from (1) models of their PT, (2) configuration of our generic framework and (3) minimal ad hoc additional development for connecting the DT to the PT. These experiments illustrate the applicability of our framework for building DTs in contexts that satisfy our assumptions and requirements. By simply configuring the framework, we are able to derive a DT aligned with its operational purpose.