2025
Marcos Tomazzoli Leipnitz, Rafael Humann Petry, Fabrício Henrique Rodrigues, Haroldo Rojas Souza Silva, Jaqueline Bitencourt Correia, Karin Becker, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt, Joel Luis Carbonera, João Cesar Netto, Mara Abel
Architecting Digital Twins: From Concept to Reality Journal Article
In: Procedia Computer Science, 256 , pp. 530-537, 2025, ISSN: 1877-0509, (Proceedings: International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems (CENTERIS)).
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Cloud Computing Digital Twin Fog & Edge Computing
@article{conf/centeris/LeipnitzPetwin24,
title = {Architecting Digital Twins: From Concept to Reality},
author = {Marcos Tomazzoli Leipnitz and Rafael Humann Petry and Fabrício Henrique Rodrigues and Haroldo Rojas Souza Silva and Jaqueline Bitencourt Correia and Karin Becker and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt and Joel Luis Carbonera and João Cesar Netto and Mara Abel},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187705092500506X},
doi = {10.1016/j.procs.2025.02.149},
issn = {1877-0509},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-03-14},
urldate = {2025-03-14},
journal = {Procedia Computer Science},
volume = {256},
pages = {530-537},
publisher = {Elsevier},
abstract = {Digital twins (DTs) have emerged as a prominent technology across various industries. However, their development in the Oil and Gas sector faces challenges related to the size and complexity of the domain, which leads to a focus on specific sub-problems like maintenance or optimization with hard, further integrated solutions. These DTs typically lack open architectures since they base the implementations on third-party solutions. This lack of architecture frameworks hinders rapid and scalable DT development and complicates the integration of new assets, services, and data sources. This paper introduces a semantic-oriented DT Framework from the PeTWIN project, which aims to address these challenges by offering (i) a data-centric, data-driven software solution, (ii) an open, modular, and extensible microservices architecture, and (iii) a semantic ontology-based strategy for integration and interoperability. The paper details the key architectural components, behaviours, and interfaces to meet industry needs and provides a proof of concept demonstrating the framework’s capabilities.},
note = {Proceedings: International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems (CENTERIS)},
keywords = {Cloud Computing, Digital Twin, Fog & Edge Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Digital twins (DTs) have emerged as a prominent technology across various industries. However, their development in the Oil and Gas sector faces challenges related to the size and complexity of the domain, which leads to a focus on specific sub-problems like maintenance or optimization with hard, further integrated solutions. These DTs typically lack open architectures since they base the implementations on third-party solutions. This lack of architecture frameworks hinders rapid and scalable DT development and complicates the integration of new assets, services, and data sources. This paper introduces a semantic-oriented DT Framework from the PeTWIN project, which aims to address these challenges by offering (i) a data-centric, data-driven software solution, (ii) an open, modular, and extensible microservices architecture, and (iii) a semantic ontology-based strategy for integration and interoperability. The paper details the key architectural components, behaviours, and interfaces to meet industry needs and provides a proof of concept demonstrating the framework’s capabilities.
Alexandre Gustavo Wermann, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt
KTWIN: A serverless Kubernetes-based Digital Twin platform Journal Article
In: Computer Networks, 259 , pp. 111095, 2025, ISSN: 1389-1286.
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Cloud Computing Digital Twin Fog & Edge Computing
@article{journal/comnet/Wermann25,
title = {KTWIN: A serverless Kubernetes-based Digital Twin platform},
author = {Alexandre Gustavo Wermann and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389128625000635},
doi = {10.1016/j.comnet.2025.111095},
issn = {1389-1286},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-02-12},
journal = {Computer Networks},
volume = {259},
pages = {111095},
abstract = {Digital Twins (DTs) systems are virtual representations of physical assets allowing organizations to gain insights and improve existing processes. In practice, DTs require proper modeling, coherent development and seamless deployment along cloud and edge landscapes relying on established patterns to reduce operational costs. In this work, we propose KTWIN a Kubernetes-based Serverless Platform for Digital Twins. KTWIN was developed using the state-of-the-art open-source Cloud Native tools, allowing DT operators to easily define models through open standards and configure details of the underlying services and infrastructure. The experiments carried out with the developed prototype show that KTWIN can provide a higher level of abstraction to model and deploy a Digital Twin use case without compromising the solution scalability. The tests performed also show cost savings ranging between 60% and 80% compared to overprovisioned scenarios.},
keywords = {Cloud Computing, Digital Twin, Fog & Edge Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Digital Twins (DTs) systems are virtual representations of physical assets allowing organizations to gain insights and improve existing processes. In practice, DTs require proper modeling, coherent development and seamless deployment along cloud and edge landscapes relying on established patterns to reduce operational costs. In this work, we propose KTWIN a Kubernetes-based Serverless Platform for Digital Twins. KTWIN was developed using the state-of-the-art open-source Cloud Native tools, allowing DT operators to easily define models through open standards and configure details of the underlying services and infrastructure. The experiments carried out with the developed prototype show that KTWIN can provide a higher level of abstraction to model and deploy a Digital Twin use case without compromising the solution scalability. The tests performed also show cost savings ranging between 60% and 80% compared to overprovisioned scenarios.
2023
Francisco Paiva Knebel, Rafael Trevisan, Givanildo Santana Nascimento, Mara Abel, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt
A study on cloud and edge computing for the implementation of digital twins in the Oil & Gas industries Journal Article
In: Computers & Industrial Engineering, 182 , pp. 109363, 2023, ISSN: 0360-8352.
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Cloud Computing Digital Twin Fog & Edge Computing
@article{journal/caie/KnebelGuidelinesOG23,
title = {A study on cloud and edge computing for the implementation of digital twins in the Oil & Gas industries},
author = {Francisco Paiva Knebel and Rafael Trevisan and Givanildo Santana Nascimento and Mara Abel and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036083522300387X},
doi = {10.1016/j.cie.2023.109363},
issn = {0360-8352},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-15},
urldate = {2023-06-15},
journal = {Computers & Industrial Engineering},
volume = {182},
pages = {109363},
abstract = {In the Oil and Gas industry, minor accidents can negatively affect people, the environment, and the enterprise on a grand scale. For this type of business, it is crucial to have adequate monitoring and maintenance operational routines. The concept of digital twins has been widely discussed as an industrial solution capable of monitoring objects in real-time, predicting their state, integrity, and safety conditions, and providing user feedback. This analysis can also perform predictive maintenance and estimate efficiency levels. This paper follows a systematic approach and inspects the current state of digital twin adoption by the Oil and Gas industry, along with cloud and edge utilization in both scenarios. The survey was conducted by filtering and selecting articles published in three different queries regarding digital twins in the Oil and Gas industry, cloud and edge usage in digital twins, and cloud and edge usage in the Oil and Gas industry. The selected articles were classified and reviewed to present an overview of the current literature regarding digital twins in the oil and gas industry and evaluate cloud-based solutions for digital twins in this context. This review found that cloud and edge adoption in the Oil and Gas industry was late compared to other industries, mainly because of security and data privacy concerns. Digital twin adoption across all industries is still in its infancy, as most of the current works are theoretical or present partial implementations, which often follow different digital twin definitions. Cloud and edge computing grant access to increased storage and computational capabilities and decouple the necessity of relying on a robust local IT infrastructure, being critical enabling factors for digital twin implementation.},
keywords = {Cloud Computing, Digital Twin, Fog & Edge Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In the Oil and Gas industry, minor accidents can negatively affect people, the environment, and the enterprise on a grand scale. For this type of business, it is crucial to have adequate monitoring and maintenance operational routines. The concept of digital twins has been widely discussed as an industrial solution capable of monitoring objects in real-time, predicting their state, integrity, and safety conditions, and providing user feedback. This analysis can also perform predictive maintenance and estimate efficiency levels. This paper follows a systematic approach and inspects the current state of digital twin adoption by the Oil and Gas industry, along with cloud and edge utilization in both scenarios. The survey was conducted by filtering and selecting articles published in three different queries regarding digital twins in the Oil and Gas industry, cloud and edge usage in digital twins, and cloud and edge usage in the Oil and Gas industry. The selected articles were classified and reviewed to present an overview of the current literature regarding digital twins in the oil and gas industry and evaluate cloud-based solutions for digital twins in this context. This review found that cloud and edge adoption in the Oil and Gas industry was late compared to other industries, mainly because of security and data privacy concerns. Digital twin adoption across all industries is still in its infancy, as most of the current works are theoretical or present partial implementations, which often follow different digital twin definitions. Cloud and edge computing grant access to increased storage and computational capabilities and decouple the necessity of relying on a robust local IT infrastructure, being critical enabling factors for digital twin implementation.
2022
Laura Bragante Corssac, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt
A Digital Twin-based Smart Home: A Proof of Concept Study Unpublished
arXiv Preprint, 2022, (Computer Science > Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing (cs.DC)).
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Digital Twin Smart Homes
@unpublished{corssac2022smart,
title = {A Digital Twin-based Smart Home: A Proof of Concept Study},
author = {Laura Bragante Corssac and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.14238},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-12-29},
urldate = {2022-12-29},
abstract = {A Digital Twin is a virtual system that can fully describe a physical one. It constantly receives data from its counterpart's sensors, consults external sources, and obtains manual inputs from its stakeholders. The DT uses all this information to make various computations, such as analyses, predictions, and simulations, and then possibly sends the results back to the physical system. Domotics, or Smart Home Technologies, brings intelligence and comfort to a house by automating some of its functions. Although the research on both themes is vast, there are few implementations of Smart Homes based on Digital Twin technologies, and this work aims to prove that residences can also benefit from this concept. We implement two different use cases showing that a two-way connection between a home and its virtual counterpart can provide its owners with analyses and simulation-based automation. The first study case allows the user to visualize their home appliances' past and present state concerning their energy consumption. Based on heating simulations, the second determines the best time to turn on a heater to increase the home's thermal comfort and reduce energy usage.},
howpublished = {arXiv Preprint},
note = {Computer Science > Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing (cs.DC)},
keywords = {Digital Twin, Smart Homes},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}
A Digital Twin is a virtual system that can fully describe a physical one. It constantly receives data from its counterpart's sensors, consults external sources, and obtains manual inputs from its stakeholders. The DT uses all this information to make various computations, such as analyses, predictions, and simulations, and then possibly sends the results back to the physical system. Domotics, or Smart Home Technologies, brings intelligence and comfort to a house by automating some of its functions. Although the research on both themes is vast, there are few implementations of Smart Homes based on Digital Twin technologies, and this work aims to prove that residences can also benefit from this concept. We implement two different use cases showing that a two-way connection between a home and its virtual counterpart can provide its owners with analyses and simulation-based automation. The first study case allows the user to visualize their home appliances' past and present state concerning their energy consumption. Based on heating simulations, the second determines the best time to turn on a heater to increase the home's thermal comfort and reduce energy usage.
Rafael Antonio Ventura Trevisan, Francisco Paiva Knebel, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt, Mara Abel
Aquisição de Dados Escalável e Ciente da Aplicação para Gêmeos Digitais Inproceedings
In: 27º Workshop de Gerência e Operação de Redes e Serviços, WGRS 2022, Virtual Conference, May 23-27, 2022, pp. 57-70, SBC, 2022, ISSN: 2595-2722, (In portuguese, Best paper award).
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Digital Twin Internet of Things (IoT)
@inproceedings{conf/wgrs/Trevisan22,
title = {Aquisição de Dados Escalável e Ciente da Aplicação para Gêmeos Digitais},
author = {Rafael Antonio Ventura Trevisan and Francisco Paiva Knebel and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt and Mara Abel},
url = {https://www.inf.ufrgs.br/~jwickboldt/wp-content/uploads/Aquisicao-de-Dados-Escalavel-e-Ciente-da-Aplicacao-para-Gemeos-Digitais-WGRS-2022-Camera-Ready.pdf
https://sol.sbc.org.br/index.php/wgrs/article/view/21477},
doi = {10.5753/wgrs.2022.223478},
issn = {2595-2722},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-05-23},
urldate = {2022-05-23},
booktitle = {27º Workshop de Gerência e Operação de Redes e Serviços, WGRS 2022, Virtual Conference, May 23-27, 2022},
pages = {57-70},
publisher = {SBC},
abstract = {Digital Twin is the name given to a type of system that has full integration between a physical part and a digital part updated in real time. In general, they are large-scale systems with intense flow of data between their parts (physical and digital). To perform data acquisition in this type of system, protocols such as MQTT are commonly used. This work recognizes the limitations of this protocol when using high traffic conditions and explores alternatives to increase data flow while minimizing message loss and resource usage. For this, the native cluster mode of MQTT broker implementations is used, adding a component to the system architecture which we call "Cluster Manager". This component was developed with the objective of monitoring the health of a cluster of brokers and adjusting the composition of the cluster to the message flow. The results of the implementation of this component helped to determine loss margins and latencies in sending critical messages, using different strategies to scale the cluster under representative workloads of Digital Twins applications. It has also been determined that using very sensitive parameters to scale the system causes more nodes than necessary to be instantiated and resources wasted.},
note = {In portuguese, Best paper award},
keywords = {Digital Twin, Internet of Things (IoT)},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Digital Twin is the name given to a type of system that has full integration between a physical part and a digital part updated in real time. In general, they are large-scale systems with intense flow of data between their parts (physical and digital). To perform data acquisition in this type of system, protocols such as MQTT are commonly used. This work recognizes the limitations of this protocol when using high traffic conditions and explores alternatives to increase data flow while minimizing message loss and resource usage. For this, the native cluster mode of MQTT broker implementations is used, adding a component to the system architecture which we call "Cluster Manager". This component was developed with the objective of monitoring the health of a cluster of brokers and adjusting the composition of the cluster to the message flow. The results of the implementation of this component helped to determine loss margins and latencies in sending critical messages, using different strategies to scale the cluster under representative workloads of Digital Twins applications. It has also been determined that using very sensitive parameters to scale the system causes more nodes than necessary to be instantiated and resources wasted.
2021
Francisco Paiva Knebel, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt, Edison Pignaton de Freitas
A Cloud-Fog Computing Architecture for Real-Time Digital Twins Unpublished
arXiv Preprint, 2021, (Computer Science > Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI)).
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Cloud Computing Digital Twin Fog & Edge Computing
@unpublished{knebel2020cloud,
title = {A Cloud-Fog Computing Architecture for Real-Time Digital Twins},
author = {Francisco Paiva Knebel and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt and Edison Pignaton de Freitas},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.06118},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-05-07},
urldate = {2021-05-07},
abstract = {Digital Twin systems are designed as two interconnected mirrored spaces, one real and one virtual, each reflecting the other, sharing information, and making predictions based on analysis and simulations. The correct behavior of a real-time Digital Twin depends not only on the logical results of computation but also on the timing constraints. To cope with the large amounts of data that need to be stored and analyzed, modern large scale Digital Twin deployments often rely on cloud-based architectures. A significant portion of the overall response time of a Digital Twin is spent on moving data from the edge to the cloud. Therefore, implementing Digital Twins using cloud-fog architectures emerges as an alternative to bring computing power closer to the edge, reducing latency and allowing faster response times. This paper studies how suitable the use of a cloud-fog architecture is to handle the real-time requirements of Digital Twins. Based on a realistic implementation and deployment of Digital Twin software components, it is possible to conclude that the distribution of Digital Twins in a fog computing setup can reduce response times, meeting its real-time application requirements.},
howpublished = {arXiv Preprint},
note = {Computer Science > Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI)},
keywords = {Cloud Computing, Digital Twin, Fog & Edge Computing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}
Digital Twin systems are designed as two interconnected mirrored spaces, one real and one virtual, each reflecting the other, sharing information, and making predictions based on analysis and simulations. The correct behavior of a real-time Digital Twin depends not only on the logical results of computation but also on the timing constraints. To cope with the large amounts of data that need to be stored and analyzed, modern large scale Digital Twin deployments often rely on cloud-based architectures. A significant portion of the overall response time of a Digital Twin is spent on moving data from the edge to the cloud. Therefore, implementing Digital Twins using cloud-fog architectures emerges as an alternative to bring computing power closer to the edge, reducing latency and allowing faster response times. This paper studies how suitable the use of a cloud-fog architecture is to handle the real-time requirements of Digital Twins. Based on a realistic implementation and deployment of Digital Twin software components, it is possible to conclude that the distribution of Digital Twins in a fog computing setup can reduce response times, meeting its real-time application requirements.
2020
Rafael Antonio Ventura Trevisan, Francisco Paiva Knebel, Juliano Araujo Wickboldt
Uma Avaliação do uso de MQTT para a Implementação de Digital Twins Inproceedings
In: 18ª Escola Regional de Redes de Computadores, ERRC 2020, Virtual Conference, November 25-27, 2020, pp. 1-7, SBC, 2020, (in portuguese).
Abstract Links BibTeX Tags: Digital Twin Internet of Things (IoT)
@inproceedings{conf/errc/Trevisan20,
title = {Uma Avaliação do uso de MQTT para a Implementação de Digital Twins},
author = {Rafael Antonio Ventura Trevisan and Francisco Paiva Knebel and Juliano Araujo Wickboldt},
url = {https://www.inf.ufrgs.br/~jwickboldt/wp-content/uploads/ERRC2020_Uma_Avalia__o_do_uso_de_MQTT_para_a_Implementa___ICQ3pD9.pdf},
doi = {10.5753/errc.2020.15187},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-11-25},
booktitle = {18ª Escola Regional de Redes de Computadores, ERRC 2020, Virtual Conference, November 25-27, 2020},
pages = {1-7},
publisher = {SBC},
abstract = {O conceito de Digital Twin tem se tornado cada dia mais importante como um método para monitorar elementos e prevenir possíveis defeitos. Uma das tecnologias que pode ser usada para implementar a comunicação de dados desse software é o MQTT. Este trabalho avaliou o uso dessa tecnologia nesse contexto e constatou que existe uma limitação do broker na capacidade de envio de mensagens, que pode ser contornada através da utilização de múltiplos brokers em paralelo. Também foi examinado o comportamento dos brokers em situações onde eles estão centralizados em uma máquina com mais recursos computacionais e quando eles estão distribuídos em máquinas exclusivas porém com menos recursos. Nessas situações constatamos que os brokers apresentam um comportamento mais estável quando seus serviços estão centralizados.},
note = {in portuguese},
keywords = {Digital Twin, Internet of Things (IoT)},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
O conceito de Digital Twin tem se tornado cada dia mais importante como um método para monitorar elementos e prevenir possíveis defeitos. Uma das tecnologias que pode ser usada para implementar a comunicação de dados desse software é o MQTT. Este trabalho avaliou o uso dessa tecnologia nesse contexto e constatou que existe uma limitação do broker na capacidade de envio de mensagens, que pode ser contornada através da utilização de múltiplos brokers em paralelo. Também foi examinado o comportamento dos brokers em situações onde eles estão centralizados em uma máquina com mais recursos computacionais e quando eles estão distribuídos em máquinas exclusivas porém com menos recursos. Nessas situações constatamos que os brokers apresentam um comportamento mais estável quando seus serviços estão centralizados.