First Digital Twin in Serbia Made – 4th Industrial Revolution Asset That Helps Save Resources

The company TeamCAD has made the first digital twin in Serbia – an exact copy of an existing or designed facility in a digital format, which is used in the construction industry for calculating the price of maintenance of various components, systems, assemblies and facilities, by simulating on their replicas various phenomena and processes that might happen on actual facilities.

A digital twin was made for the SAD NOVI BAZAAR shopping center in Novi Sad, managed by Mat-real Estate, a part of the Novi Sad-based company Matijevic.

As Slobodan Lazic, the director of TeamCAD, which implements the latest Autodesk BIM, GIS, Plant3D, CAD and Data Management solutions, says for eKapija, the digital twin is one of the assets of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the potential and the savings that can be made with such an approach are becoming increasingly obvious.

– The most general definition of a digital twin is “a digital replica of the physical data, processes, systems and a digital simulation of the reality, which can be used for various purposes.” Many BIM (Building Information Modeling) specialists will recognize that the BIM model can easily be placed in the digital twin context, which is not far from the truth. Chronologically speaking, the BIM model can be seen as the very beginning of the generation of the digital twin, that is, as its starting point. However, the BIM model cannot fully meet the demands placed before the digital twin model, which can be a simulation of a building's life cycle, various simulations of production processes in the industry, a simulation of a fire in a building, the evacuation of people in case of a fire, a simulation of crash tests in the automotive industry, the movement of particles and their behavior while moving etc. – Lazic points out.

According to him, the digital twin technology unifies all the available data from the BIM model, so simulations should be seen as one of the tools of the digital twin technology.

– It's important to note that digital simulation tools enable the implementation of the digital twin technology not just in the construction industry, but in various branches of the industry – aviation, shipbuilding, process lines and industrial facilities, practically everywhere that simulations of natural processes and real world influence in the digital world are required, whereby the processes and influences from the nature are replaced by digital simulation tools – our interviewee says and adds that digital twins can be used for facilities which are being planned or built and those that have already been built.

Explaining the technology of the preparation of a digital twin, Lazic notes that the BIM model can more or less be done on various platforms, but in order for the process to be complete, the digital twin, the data and the processes it contains must be available to all interested parties (facility owners, maintenance companies, tenants, interested clients...).

– In TeamCAD's case, the platform for the preparation of digital twins is always Autodesk Revit, whereas the Autodesk platform BIM360 platform enables mutual cooperation and provides our clients with a constant insight into the progress of the project and control over it. This is the first time that the process is complete, with the digital twin eventually being available in the form of a web application. The TeamCAD web application through which the digital twin can be accessed relies on the relatively new Autodesk Forge technology. The BIM 3D model has been transferred from Autodesk Revit with all the information, whereas the rest of the app is programmed in JavaScript, relying on jQuery, Bootstrap, Node, Node Express etc. With the help of the offered web app, it is possible to access the digital twin from any contemporary web browser, and Google Chrome is recommended.

When asked why a digital twin has not been made in Serbia before, Lazic says that it's a new technology.

– It can't be said that making and maintaining a 3D model of a digital twin is difficult, but at the same time it's a new technology, which requires expertise in various fields, such as: engineering knowledge and experience, advanced knowledge of BIM technologies, CFD analyses, web programming, Dynamo and Python programming, ability to work with databases and data processing, Internet of Things, preparation of VR animations and others.

Lazic points out that TeamCAD receives lots of inquiries for similar digital twin projects, mostly from abroad.

– This field is only just developing here and we expect our investors to soon show interest in this kind of management and maintenance of projects and existing facilities and recognize all the benefits and savings that the digital twin technology provides to investors. To that end, in the past period, we have placed focus on various kinds of educational content, such as a series of articles about the digital twin technology on our website, as well as webinars and various panel discussions with potential clients – eKapija's interviewee says.

Talking about the further business plans of TeamCAD, Lazic says that the development of new functions and options of the Autodesk Forge platform and connection with the solutions for Facility Management, such as Autodesk BIM360 Ops and others, is being planned.

– We will work on developing our solutions, but also on integrating the existing Facility Management solutions, as well as on linking to 3D models used in other industries and fields: machine industry, civil engineering, process engineering, GIS etc... – Lazic says.

B. Petrovic

TeamCAD d.o.o. Beograd

IM Matijević d.o.o. Novi Sad

Mat-Real Estate d.o.o. Novi Sad

Slobodan Lazić

SAD NOVI BAZAAR Novi Sad

digital twins

digital twin

4th industrial revolution

BIM models

Building Information Modeling

simulations

Autodesk BIM

GIS

Plant3D

CAD

Data Management solutions

Autodesk Revit

Autodesk platform BIM360

jQuery

Bootstrap

Node

Node express

CFD analyses

Dynamo and Python programming

Facility Management solutions

Autodesk Forge