Digital thread: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:51, 12 July 2023

Revision as of 07:25, 19 July 2023

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{{context|date=November 2018}}

'''Digital thread''', also known as digital chain,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Bonnard |first=Renan |last2=Hascoët |first2=Jean-Yves |last3=Mognol |first3=Pascal |last4=Stroud |first4=Ian |date=2018-11-02 |title=STEP-NC digital thread for additive manufacturing: data model, implementation and validation |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0951192X.2018.1509130 |journal=International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing |language=en |volume=31 |issue=11 |pages=1141–1160 |doi=10.1080/0951192X.2018.1509130 |issn=0951-192X}}</ref> is defined as “the use of digital tools and representations for design, evaluation, and life cycle management.”.<ref name=":0" />. It is a data-driven architecture that links data gathered during a [[Product lifecycle]] from all involved and distributed manufacturing systems.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Bo |last2=Wang |first2=Shilong |last3=Li |first3=Shi |last4=Bi |first4=Fengyang |date=March 2023 |title=Digital Thread-Driven Proactive and Reactive Service Composition for Cloud Manufacturing |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9765669/ |journal=IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=2952–2962 |doi=10.1109/TII.2022.3171338 |issn=1551-3203}}</ref> This data can come from any part of [[Product lifecycle|product's lifecycle]], its transportation, or its [[supply chain]].<ref name=":2" />. Digital thread "enables the collection, transmission, and sharing of data and information between systems across the product lifecycle" to enable real-time decision making, gather data, and iterate on the product.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />.

The term 'digital thread' was first used in the Global Horizons 2013 report by the USAF Global Science and Technology Vision Task Force.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=741377 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930134509/https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=741377 |archive-date=2021-09-30 |title=Global Horizons Final Report |last=USAF Global Science and Technology Vision |first=Task Force |website=[[Homeland Security Digital Library]] |url-status=unfit |access-date=2022-06-06}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Digital thread was further refined in 2018 by Singh and Willcox at MIT in their paper entitled "Engineering with a Digital Thread".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J057255|title=Engineering with a Digital Thread|last=Singh|first=Victor|website=Aerospace Resource Central|access-date=2021-09-30}}</ref> In this academic paper the term digital thread is defined as "a data-driven architecture that links together information generated from across the product lifecycle and is envisioned to be the primary or authoritative data and communication platform for a company’s products at any instance of time."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Victor |last2=Willcox |first2=K. E. |title=Engineering Design with Digital Thread |journal=AIAA Journal |date=November 2018 |volume=56 |issue=11 |pages=4515–4528 |doi=10.2514/1.J057255 |url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J057255 |language=en |issn=0001-1452}}</ref>

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=== Digital twin ===

The digital thread is a critical capability in [[model-based systems engineering]] (MBSE) and the foundation for a [[Digital twin]], which is defined as "a digital replica of a physical entity".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Aheleroff |first=Shohin |last2=Xu |first2=Xun |last3=Zhong |first3=Ray Y. |last4=Lu |first4=Yuqian |date=January 2021 |title=Digital Twin as a Service (DTaaS) in Industry 4.0: An Architecture Reference Model |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1474034620301944 |journal=Advanced Engineering Informatics |language=en |volume=47 |pages=101225 |doi=10.1016/j.aei.2020.101225}}</ref>. In fact, digital thread was first described as related to [[Digital twin]] in the Global Horizons 2013 report.<ref name=":0" />. Digital thread is a means to gather data for use in the development of a [[Digital twin]]; "some argue [digital thread] is the backbone of digital twin applications".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kwon |first=Soonjo |last2=Monnier |first2=Laetitia V. |last3=Barbau |first3=Raphael |last4=Bernstein |first4=William Z. |date=October 2020 |title=Enriching standards-based digital thread by fusing as-designed and as-inspected data using knowledge graphs |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1474034620300719 |journal=Advanced Engineering Informatics |language=en |volume=46 |pages=101102 |doi=10.1016/j.aei.2020.101102}}</ref>. "digital thread platforms can capture data from different systems, standardize it, and provide a seamless link between the physical process or product and the digital twin".<ref>{{Cite web |last=ahuff |date=2022-06-04 |title=How digital twins, IIoT technologies benefit operations |url=https://www.controleng.com/articles/how-digital-twins-iiot-technologies-benefit-operations/ |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Control Engineering |language=en-US}}</ref>. The term digital thread is also used to describe the traceability of the [[digital twin]] back to the requirements, parts and control systems that make up the physical asset. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gardnerweb.com/articles/what-are-digital-twins-and-digital-threads|title=What Are Digital Twins and Digital Threads?|last=Gould|first=Lawrence S.|website=Automotive Design & Production|access-date=2021-07-27}}</ref>

Although digital thread and [[Digital twin]] are "every so often understood to be synonymous...they are not the same as Digital Twin relies on real-time data from its physical counterpart".<ref name=":3" />. "In short, digital thread describes the process while digital twin symbolizes technology".<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Daase |first=Christian |last2=Haertel |first2=Christian |last3=Nahhas |first3=Abdulrahman |last4=Volk |first4=Matthias |last5=Steigerwald |first5=Heiko |last6=Ramesohl |first6=Achim |last7=Schneider |first7=Bernd |last8=Zeier |first8=Alexander |last9=Turowski |first9=Klaus |date=2023 |title=Following the Digital Thread – A Cloud-Based Observation |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877050922024723 |journal=Procedia Computer Science |language=en |volume=217 |pages=1867–1876 |doi=10.1016/j.procs.2022.12.387}}</ref>. "Compared to the digital twin, the digital thread can support decision-making by designing and regulating the data interaction and processing instead of high-fidelity system models".<ref name=":1" />.

=== Internet of things ===

A key aspect of digital thread is the [[Internet of things]], whose "cyber-physical systems, sensors, and so-called smart devices" are an important source of the data required by digital thread.<ref name=":4" />. "The ability to gather massive amounts of data through the aspired omnipresence of sensors furthermore fuels the emergence of other key technologies" such as [[Big data analytics]], [[Artificial intelligence]], and [[Cloud computing]].<ref name=":4" />. "Thus, the data collected by using IoT technologies constitute the basis of advanced simulation models, which is in essence the livelihood of the digital twin paradigm and therefore also an integral part of the wider digital thread."<ref name=":4" />

=== Smart manufacturing ===

[[Big data analytics]] and [[artificial intelligence]] used in conjunction with Digital Thread are increasingly more required in [[smart manufacturing]] applications.<ref name=":4" />. [[Big data analytics]] is a "prerequisite for managing highly variable"<ref name=":4" /> data of [[smart manufacturing]] processes, gathered through digital thread. [[Artificial intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] can be trained using this data to create "autonomously self-improving production processes [14] and to facilitate organizational decision-making".<ref name=":4" />. "the digital thread paradigm not only leads to the accumulation and processing of massive amounts of data but is also shaped by the analytical results these both technologies provide".<ref name=":4" />

== References ==