Digital Twin Series · Level 1 · Companion to Part 3
Digital Twin Data Flow: From Sensor to Action
How does one number on a machine become an alert on a screen, and which protocol carries it at each step?
Part 3 showed the layers of a digital twin. This page follows the data through them, with the PLC as a layer of its own: physical asset, sensors and I/O, PLC, edge gateway, data platform, virtual model and applications. You can follow a single temperature reading through all seven stages, see which protocol is used on each link, step through the message sequence, and click through a robotic assembly cell example. Results can flow back to the PLC as setpoints, which closes the loop.
Select a layer. Data moves up through the layers, and optimised setpoints and recipes can move back down to the PLC. Names of products are examples only.
One motor winding temperature, followed from the machine to the alert. The sensor, the scaling and the model are simplified examples: a Pt100 sensor, a 4 to 20 mA transmitter for 0 to 150 °C, a 16-bit input and a very simple expected-temperature model. Use your own values on a real machine.
| Link | Protocols | Typical use |
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Protocol names are examples of what is commonly used on each link, and plants often use more than one. Choose them for the data type, the speed needed, the security needed and what the devices support.
| Layer | Examples |
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Examples only, not a recommendation or a complete list.
Figures and product names are indicative. Check each vendor's current documentation before you plan a project.