Conference: NSF Workshop on Crosscutting Research Needs for Digital Twins

这个为期两天的研讨会将确定数字双胞胎的研究需求。数字孪生兄弟是一组模仿物理系统的结构、上下文和行为的数字构造。数字双胞胎耦合到他们的物理对应物；他们的特征是在数字表示和物理对应物之间动态、连续、双向的信息流。来自物理系统的数据流被集成到数字表示中，以减少不确定性并提高精度。数字表示又可用于控制物理系统、优化数据采集和证明决策支持。数字双胞胎必须足够快地执行，以支持与物理系统相关的时间尺度上的决策和控制，并且必须管理和量化不确定性。特别值得注意的是虚拟和物理之间的双向交互，这是区分数字双胞胎和传统模拟的核心。这种双向交互给建模、数据管理和决策带来了许多新的挑战。研讨会将把不同的利益相关者社区聚集在一起，以确定跨应用领域常见的研究差距，并可能受益于交叉学科的研究努力。该技术方案围绕四个方法论主题组织：(1)模型；(2)数据；(3)决策；(4)验证、确认和不确定度量化。为确保取得贯穿各领域的成果，将在四个应用领域探讨这些主题：(1)工程、材料与制造；(2)智慧城市；(3)生物医学与健康；(4)气候、自然灾害与环境科学。讲习班的发言者将被要求在四个方法主题中找出实现可扩展数字双胞胎的障碍和促进因素，并提供从应用领域得出的具体例子。这些障碍和推动因素将在互动研讨会期间收集和组织。其目标是为每个方法主题确定横切障碍的“五大”列表和潜在横切推动因素的“五大”列表，并提供应用领域的具体例子。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This two-day workshop will identify research needs for digital twins. A digital twin is a set of digital constructs that mimic the structure, context, and behavior of a physical system. Digital twins are coupled to their physical counterparts; they are characterized by a dynamic, continual, two-way flow of information between the digital representation and the physical counterpart. Data streaming from the physical system are integrated into the digital representation to reduce uncertainties and improve accuracy. The digital representation may in turn be used to control the physical system, optimize data acquisition, and prove decision support. Digital twins must execute rapidly enough to support decisions and control in time scales that are relevant to the physical system and must manage and quantify uncertainties. Of particular note is the bi-directional interaction between the virtual and the physical, which is central to distinguishing a digital twin from a conventional simulation. This bi-directional interaction brings many new challenges to modeling, data curation, and decision-making.The workshop will bring together a diverse community of stakeholders to identify research gaps common across application domains and that may benefit from crosscutting interdisciplinary research efforts. The technical program is organized around four methodological themes: (1) Models; (2) Data; (3) Decisions; and (4) Verification, Validation & Uncertainty Quantification. To ensure crosscutting outcomes, these themes will be explored across four application domains: (1) Engineering, Materials & Manufacturing; (2) Smart Cities; (3) Biomedicine & Health; and (4) Climate, Natural Hazards & Environmental Sciences. Workshop speakers will be asked to identify barriers and enablers for achieving scalable digital twins in the four methodological themes, giving concrete examples drawn from the application domains. These barriers and enablers will be collected and organized during interactive workshop sessions. The objective is to identify, for each of the methodological themes, a “top-five” list of crosscutting barriers and a “top-five” list of potential crosscutting enablers, supported with concrete examples from the application domains.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.