Challenges when creating a cohesive digital twin ship: a data modelling perspective

Abstract

A digital twin is a digital asset that simulates the behaviours of a physical counterpart. Digital twin ship literature identifies that the concept is already being applied to specialised problems, but no clear guide exists for creating broader interdisciplinary digital twins. Relevant dimensions of product data modelling and previous attempts at standardizing ship data elucidate the requirements for effective data modelling in a digital twin context. Such requirements are placed in a broader perspective for digital twin implementation that encompasses challenges and directions for future development of services, networks, and software. Finally, an open standardization for digital twin data is proposed based on lessons extracted from this panorama, proposing its application to a research vessel.