The commercial aviation industry has enormously impacted the lives of the everyday person, even though now everyone travels by air on a daily basis. With the commercial industry being digitised and globalised, many buyers and sellers are shaking their hands virtually by agreeing on millions of online transactions daily. Therefore, everyone who uses the internet is impacted by the aviation industry. However, with the rising demand for air-based transportation and logistics, the airline industry is now on a steeper edge. The demand for faster air-based delivery services, copious fleet storage capacities and smarter and future-proof risk mitigation strategies have never been as unforgiving as it is now. This is because most airline practitioners are inclined to be unquestionably reliant on technology.
After the advent of the industry 4.0 demands, many technologies were recognised to be mandatory technology upgrades for almost all industrial domains. The Digital Twin and Simulation Technology stand in the front of the line, in the most advantageous new-age technologies for the aviation industry. Today we will be investigating why the Digital Twin Technology and Simulation Technology is no longer an option but a requisite technology updated for industrial players in the aviation industry.
After the advent of the industry 4.0 demands, many technologies were recognised to be mandatory technology upgrades for almost all industrial domains. The Digital Twin and Simulation Technology stand in the front of the line, in the most advantageous new-age technologies for the aviation industry. Today we will be investigating why the Digital Twin Technology and Simulation Technology is no longer an option but a requisite technology updated for industrial players in the aviation industry.
Immersive Visualisation And Analytic Windows For Aviation Practitioners
How critical is ‘visibility’ for aviation engineers? Advanced visibility means everything for an aviation engineer. Unlike other manufacturers, engineers in the aviation industry have the responsibility of ensuring not only the operability of the vehicle but also the lives of the pilots, crew members and passengers. Simple negligence during engineering, developing, advancing and testing an aeroplane can lead to fatal consequences and financial disasters for Airline organisations. Therefore, having intuitive, future-proof and reliable visibility when analysing the risk, performance and integrity of Airline assets is a critical requirement in successful Airline Asset Management and Maintenance.
This is where Digital Twin and Simulation Platforms have been most helpful. As the IIoT technology interconnects sensors, databases, information systems, and other data sources to a controlled and centralised point, the Digital Twin Technology can manipulate the data to mimic a virtual model of actual Airline Assets. The Digital Twin Technology enables a highly-detailed and real-time virtual replica of the actual airline infrastructure and capital assets which supports the initiation of simulation platforms and other technologies like emulation, constructive-based scenario analysis and more. Here are four main reasons why Digital Twin and Simulation Technologies are essential for the aviation industry.
This is where Digital Twin and Simulation Platforms have been most helpful. As the IIoT technology interconnects sensors, databases, information systems, and other data sources to a controlled and centralised point, the Digital Twin Technology can manipulate the data to mimic a virtual model of actual Airline Assets. The Digital Twin Technology enables a highly-detailed and real-time virtual replica of the actual airline infrastructure and capital assets which supports the initiation of simulation platforms and other technologies like emulation, constructive-based scenario analysis and more. Here are four main reasons why Digital Twin and Simulation Technologies are essential for the aviation industry.
How Does Digital Twin and Simulation Facilitate The Aviation Industry?
Identify Hidden Development Opportunities
Digital Twin and Simulation Technology virtually represent the house, engine and other asset components using constantly-updated asset metrics; thus, allowing these two integrated technologies to be an amazing research tool. They can help engineers to create optimal prototypes and virtually test them to gather intel on better ways to develop airline assets based on the current economic, market, social and environmental demands. Unlike other paper-based or conventional technology solutions, these new-age technologies allow the engineers to get insights into all possible dimensions of model building and digitally map the best prototypes based on critical airline events. This will help the specialist in diagnosing potential models by analysing the virtual good or bad results and understanding the outcomes before investing in actual development projects.
Aids in Meeting Operational Excellence
Digital Twin and Simulation Platforms also help aeroplane manufacturers to get a full-scale comprehensive view of workflows too. For example, they can use the twin models to understand the required resources, check for the availability of resources and estimate task complete durations without making endless phone calls or texting each and every department. This helps the aviation manufacturers in optimising employee utilisation and increasing their productivity based on critical task completion (rather than inefficient time-based schedules). Also, the time wasted on monitoring, coordinating and finding assets and other materials will no longer depend on slow and time-consuming manual methods. This visualisation capability will help the business in gaining the maximal return on net assets. This technology will advance:
- Organisational environment monitoring
- Problem area exploration
- Production scheduling
- The traceability of order and materials
- Waste management and more.
Supercharge Integration
Another instance where Digital Twin and Simulation is a smart source of truth for airline decision-makers. These platforms, when implemented right, would have multi-protocol APIs to help them integrate with any convoluted information system. It allows the user to accumulate data from third-party information management tools lip ERP, MES, CRM, WMS and other technology suites. It can also gather information from elastic PLC and Instrumentation systems; every time a new device is onboard, the advantage of easier data-based decision-making increases. As a data-rich point, the Digital Twin and Simulation Platform will empower smart dashboards, visualise interactive 3D and 4D plans, liven GIS Maps and other interfaces with user-defined, scalable information layers and indexes.
Critical Event Analysis
One of the most intriguing features unlocked by adopting a Digital Twin and Simulation Platform is the power of event-driven analysis. This technology can ensure fleet sustainment and optimise fleet management by enabling event-driven insights on aviation assets performance, risk and costs. The AI models that are embedded in the asset management technologies will enable articulate insights on where, how and why an asset fault or substandard performance would occur in a certain event. Therefore, the digital model can enact asset changes in a range of simulated environments that can be set on different operational, climatic, functional, process-based, demand parameters or more. Based on the given event, the asset inspector can deduce the most optimal; volume, variety and velocity required by the aviation asset to complete a task under particular conditions. Thus, giving an end-to-end view of the remaining lifecycle of an asset after undergoing certain structural and conditional changes.
Digital Twin and Simulation Centred Future for The Aviation Industry?
The Digital Twin is an ‘immersive reference book’ for aviation practitioners regardless of their department, whether it is R&D, Engineering, Tasting, Operations or Finance; this technology will remain to be an unchallenged visualisation tool for most asset managers. With the integration with other industry 4.0 technologies like AI, Mixed Reality, IIoT, and especially Simulation, DIgital Twin Models play an extremely important role in aircraft engineering and the aviation industry. With the rising adoption of IoT systems by aviation specialists, the demand for Digital Twin and Simulation technologies will be peaking, and aviation experts will undoubtedly rely on these technologies. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration but a fact to say that these two technologies have redefined the future of the aviation industry.
