immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: digitale Zwillinge

  • Digital twins are shaping the industry of tomorrow

    Digital twins are shaping the industry of tomorrow

    At the NVIDIA GTC in Washington, Siemens and NVIDIA presented a new type of AI-based system architecture that links the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio with the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. This “industrial tech stack” enables digital twins that visualize, simulate and optimize factories in real time. This creates a foundation for the industrial metaverse. A networked ecosystem that seamlessly brings together design, operation and energy supply.

    The new solution dramatically accelerates planning and engineering processes. Factory layouts can be simulated and adapted in just a few hours instead of weeks. AI-driven workflows make data-based decisions and increase precision, efficiency and sustainability.

    Chip-to-grid end-to-end industrial value creation
    At the heart of the approach is the “chip-to-grid” value chain, which integrates semiconductor design, factory operation, energy supply and building technology. It ensures that power, cooling and computing power function as a unified system, whether for new buildings or existing modernizations. With the help of AI-based simulation, operators can optimize production facilities in months rather than years.

    This integrated approach corresponds with the blueprint for “AI Factories” with gigawatt capacity. Together, the two companies are setting new standards for efficiency, scalability and energy intelligence in AI data centers and production facilities.

    Industrial AI as a driver of innovation
    With this cooperation, the two companies are underlining the global upheaval in manufacturing. Digital twins, AI automation and real-time simulation are becoming the basis for new industrial intelligence.

    By merging planning, engineering, energy and building management into one platform, companies have a tool that streamlines complex processes, conserves resources and accelerates innovation. A clear step towards self-optimizing industrial environments.

  • Wave physics opens up new insights into bridge stability

    Wave physics opens up new insights into bridge stability

    Mondaic AG, based in Zurich, has entered into a joint project with the Swiss Federal Roads Office(FEDRO). The company, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH), intends to test the stability and structure of bridges using software developed on the basis of wave physics, according to a statement from the ETH.

    The technology uses an ultrasound device to emit waves against the structure to be analysed. A type of seismometer receives the incoming waves on the opposite side. Deviations are recorded in comparison with an existing model and thus structural changes are detected. The existing model is a digital twin of the object to be analysed, the bridges, whose wave pattern is based on an intact structure. If the wave patterns deviate from each other, this allows conclusions to be drawn that there must be cracks in the structure and where they are located.

    The software and seismometer were developed at ETH and used for NASA’s InSight mission to recognise structures on Mars. “What enabled us to look inside Mars in 2018 is now helping us to look inside bridges, aircraft parts and other materials without having to cut them open or drill into them,” says Christian Boehm, co-developer and now Managing Director of Mondaic, in the press release.

    Mondaic offers both software and complete solutions for testing – including sensor technology, cloud solutions and consulting. This means that even users without specialist knowledge of wave physics can utilise the technology.

  • Researchers are working on clean water for cities of the future

    Researchers are working on clean water for cities of the future

    Researchers from the Dübendorf-based aquatic research institute Eawag and the School of Life Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland(FHNW) are involved in the EU project UrbanM20. According to a press release, the project, which is led by the Danish Technical University of Copenhagen(DTU), is dedicated to improving the monitoring and management of urban water management.

    The aim of the international project is to improve the quality of urban water in the cities of the future. Water utilisation, consumption and wastewater are to be monitored and stored in data exchange systems. Digital twins will be used to develop flexible programmes that improve water quality management.

    Twenty partners from ten countries are participating in the project. From Switzerland, for example, the City of Zurich Department of Waste Management and Recycling(ERZ) and the Association of Swiss Wastewater and Water Protection Experts(VSA) are on board. The participants want to develop intelligent sensors that use artificial intelligence to improve the monitoring of water quality. The digital twins are intended to help identify pollution problems and plan solutions. “We also want to support the authorities with practical guidelines to better monitor and maintain their existing systems,” said project coordinator Luca Vezzaro from the DTU in the press release.

    The UrbanM20 project is being funded by the EU with 5 million euros through the Horizon Europe programme. The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) is also supporting the project with 1 million euros.

  • Digital twins for energy systems are gaining in importance

    Digital twins for energy systems are gaining in importance

    Sympheny has reached a milestone on its journey as a partner of Californian company ESRI and its Swiss branch in Zurich: Sympheny, which was founded in 2020 and is based in Technopark Winterthur, has officially completed ESRI’s three-year start-up programme.

    The “invaluable support, resources and opportunities” received during this time have made it possible to integrate the global company’s geodata technology into its own solutions for energy systems. “From optimising urban energy planning to improving spatial decision making, the ESRI ecosystem has been instrumental in driving our innovation,” Sympheny said.

    Sympheny offers digital twin-based services for energy planners and managers to enable them to achieve their sustainability goals “with minimum cost and maximum confidence,” the start-up said in a self-promotion. “Digital twin algorithms = intelligent services.” To this end, Sympheny provides its subscription-based SaaS platform on which they can develop, manage and continuously use their digital twin of the energy system.

    In the next phase, the partnership between Sympheny and ESRI will be deepened with new joint projects. Sympheny is also “proud to have ESRI as an observer in our GOES project“. GOES is an EU Horizon 2020 project in which innovative geodata solutions for energy planning are being researched. It is coordinated by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology(Empa) in Dübendorf ZH and comprises eight partners from five EU countries and the USA.

    According to the press release, Sympheny is also looking forward to further collaboration with the Urban ArcGIS team, ESRI’s web-based 3D solution for urban planning projects. Sympheny is particularly keen to promote the topic of energy.