COOCK project Smart Port 2025 D3.2: "Variability in Twinning Architectures"

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the variability in twinning architectures within digital twin development for smart port systems, focusing on stages of problem definition, design, and deployment, illustrated through simple use-cases.

Contribution

It systematically identifies sources of variability in digital twin architectures across different development stages for smart port applications.

Findings

Identifies three key stages where variability impacts digital twin systems.

Provides a structured approach to understanding twinning architecture choices.

Uses practical use-cases to illustrate variability in port digital twin development.

Abstract

This document is a result of the COOCK project "Smart Port 2025: improving and accelerating the operational efficiency of a harbour eco-system through the application of intelligent technologies". The project is mainly aimed at SMEs, but also at large corporations. Together, they form the value-chain of the harbour. The digital maturity of these actors will be increased by model and data-driven digitization. The project brings together both technology users and providers/integrators. In this report, the broad spectrum of model and data-based digitization approaches is structured, under the unifying umbrella of "Digital Twins". During the (currently quite ad-hoc) digitization process and in particular, the creations of Digital Twins, a variety of choices have an impact on the ultimately realised system. This document identifies three stages during which this "variability" appears: the Problem Space Goal Construction Stage, the (Conceptual) Architecture Design Stage and the Deployment Stage. To illustrate the workflow, two simple use-cases are used: one of a ship moving in 1 dimension and, at a different scale and level of detail, a macroscopic model of the Port of Antwerp.