IoTwins project: digital twins for industrial plants

IoTwins: a unique and flexible platform for the creation of digital twins for industrial plants, a 20 million Euro European-funded project in which CINECA participates by providing its know-how in the field of big data analysis and in the definition of complex workflows on cloud and HPC systems.
Within the project there will be 12 testbeds, each realizing a digital twin, the digitization of an industrial process, in order to optimize and improve its management. 

Funded under Horizon 2020, IoTwins plans a total investment of 20 million Euro and is coordinated by Bonfiglioli Riduttori SpA, a world leader in the production of power reducers. The project is also supported by the scientific coordination of the University of Bologna, the computing infrastructures of CINECA and INFN, the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, and the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region, through Art-ER, the regional company supporting innovation, attractiveness and internationalization of the territorial system. In addition to local partners, including Marposs a world leader in the supply of precision instruments, the project will also include companies and scientific institutions of international importance such as Siemens, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, the Barcelona Futbol Club, and the Fraunhofer Institute in Munich.

Digital twins are virtual copies of real processes and plants that can interact with each other and, through the collection of large amounts of data, can simulate different scenarios to define corrective actions, optimize efficiency and diagnose anomalies before they occur.

In particular, 4 testbeds will be carried out in the manufacturing sector for predictive diagnosis in the numerous sectors of activity in which the consortium's industrial partners operate (wind turbines, machine tools for the production of automotive components, machines for the production of crankshafts, machines for the production of bottle caps). Another 3 testbeds will focus on the management of infrastructures and, in particular, will be applied to the optimization of the management of the Barcelona Camp Nou Stadium, on the so-called Smart Grid, i.e. the set of an information network and a distribution network to manage the electricity grid in an "intelligent" manner, to monitor the quality of energy and the holistic management of supercomputing infrastructures. The remaining 5 testbeds - strength and value of the project for the entire regional industrial system - will cover the replicability and standardization of previous models to define new areas of application and develop innovative business models in manufacturing and infrastructure management.