Building Device Digital Twin for Predictive Maintenance Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Building management systems (BMS) face challenges due to outdated controllers with low computational power and storage capacity, leading to unplanned downtime and security risks from unauthorized access, as they lack data intelligence to detect equipment aging and perform deep data analytics.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a digital twin system using processing circuits to generate a digital representation of physical building devices, enabling predictive maintenance, secure data transactions via blockchain, and remote monitoring and control, without the need for hardware upgrades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If digital twin system and blockchain are implemented, then data intelligence and security are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud-based digital twin system as an intermediary that handles complex data processing and analytics remotely. The digital twin acts as a virtual representation that processes building data in the cloud, allowing the physical building systems to remain simple while gaining advanced analytical capabilities through the intermediary digital twin layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy (digital twin) of the physical building systems. This digital replica contains all the complex data models, analytics engines, and security protocols, allowing the physical system to remain simple while the digital copy handles the computational complexity. The digital twin can be updated and improved without changing the physical hardware.
2Reliability
If digital twin system is implemented, then predictive maintenance capability is improved, but computational requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the computational workload by separating data collection at the building level from complex analytics in the cloud. Each building device sends data to a digital twin in the cloud, which performs the heavy computational lifting for predictive maintenance. This segmentation allows simple edge devices to maintain reliability while cloud-based digital twins handle the computational intensity.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital twin serves as an intermediary computational layer between simple building devices and complex analytics requirements. It receives data from resource-constrained devices, performs sophisticated predictive maintenance analytics, and returns simplified recommendations to the building systems, effectively mediating the computational gap.
3Ease of operation
If device twinning is implemented, then remote monitoring capability is improved, but network security risks worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of building systems that can be accessed remotely for monitoring and control. These digital twins serve as secure interfaces, allowing remote operation without directly exposing the physical building systems to network vulnerabilities. The digital twin acts as a buffer that enables remote access while maintaining security boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital twin functions as an intermediary layer between remote users and building systems. It handles authentication, authorization, and secure communication protocols, allowing remote monitoring capabilities while protecting the physical systems from direct network exposure and potential unauthorized access.
Data Source
AI summary
A building management system includes one or more processing circuits. The one or more processing circuits are configured to receive, from a physical building device of a building, environmental inputs and environmental outputs of the physical building device; generate a building device digital twin for the physical building device based on the received environmental inputs and the received environmental outputs; generate a predicted future performance of the physical building device based on the building device digital twin; and generate a recommendation based on the predicted future performance of the physical building device, the recommendation indicating one or more changes to implement on the physical building device. The building device digital twin is a model for predicting the behavior of the physical building device ore changes to implement on the physical building device.