An IoT device is a piece of hardware, typically a sensor, that transmits data from one place to another over the internet. Types of IoT devices include simple (often wireless) sensors, actuators, as well as more sophisticated computerized devices.

A digital twin (DT) is the software representation of a physical object. At a bare minimum, a DT must include the unique identifier of the physical object it represents. However, it only starts fulfilling its purpose once additional information — such as sensory information (position, temperature, humidity, etc.) and/or its actuation capabilities (turn lamp on/off, etc.) — is added. The DT will often include additional auxiliary data, such as the device’s firmware version, configuration, calibration, and setpoint data.

When it comes to actuation, we often talk about the DT as a “shadow” of its physical representation in order to highlight the fact that actuations are always transactional. For instance, the DT’s intent to change its device state (turn it off or on) requires a particular command to be sent to the device, which after successful completion of the actuation needs to be communicated back to the caller (the DT).

A digital twin is sometimes referred to as the representation of an IoT device, which is not exactly the same. Let us take a closer look at the two categories, as the difference between them is actually bigger than one might think. Read More