What is Digital Twin for Construction Engineers?

Dr. Yuhan Jiang 2020/11/10

My initial thoughts on the Digital Twin revolves around what difference it makes to Building Information Modeling (BIM). Fig. 1 explains this question to me. The digital twin emphasizes the real-time data interaction between the virtual object (space) and the real object (space). For construction engineers, it is the as-built models and the constructed or under-construction structures; and, the as-built models need to reflect timely conditions of construction sites and structure components as long as the physical objects change.

My current works in digital twin for construction discuss how to automatically generate as-built models (drawings) of construction sites, building and infrastructural facilities for earthwork estimation, progress tracking, quality inspection, and defect detection, quantification and visualization. The implementation of these tasks requires technologies of drone and robot, computer vision and deep learning (AI), and nD BIM.

My future discovery of digital twin is creating safer jobsites and roadway work zones for construction crews and drivers, which may include the research in mobile (edge) computing, vehicle digital cockpit, remote sensor and GPS, wireless communication (5G) and Internet of Things (IoT).