Differentiating Between Digital Twins and Control Systems for Complex Systems

In recent years, the digital twin (DT) technology has become the subject of significant excitement as its potential to revolutionize many different industries has become clear. However, excitement around DT has led to an eagerness to label many models, simulations, and control systems (CSs) as DTs when they do not meet the strict definition of a DT. We posit that this mislabeling is partly due to the lack of a clear consensus on what is and is not a DT. In order to clarify the differences between DT and CS, this article reviews a number of current DT definitions for practical applicability, develops a refined definition, provides a method of differentiating between DTs and CSs, and presents use case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.