The digital twin technology was described as a key to realizing smart transportation in the future by experts from China and Germany at the World Transport Convention in central China's Wuhan City.

The technology creates a virtual representation of an object, be it a car, a person, a factory building, a sports stadium or possibly the entire universe. Massive sensors are usually applied on the object to relay real-time updates to the twin. With this representation, you can analyze the twin to find ways to optimize the original object. What's more, the analysis can predict future problems of the object and suggest ways to prevent them from happening in the real world.

A digital twin is often seen in high-end factories to optimize the workflow – using the same resources to achieve better results.

"Once the raw data has been processed and fused, and once digital twins have been created," said Markus Oeser, president and professor of German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). "We can perform scenario analysis to determine the optimal operating modes of the entire system."

Oeser told the convention in his speech on Tuesday that digital twin is one of the keys to unlocking a "sustainable road infrastructure," adding that the tech can reduce blocking times, extend structure cycles and achieve maximum reliability.

He said the BASt is trying to digitalize road infrastructure and achieve "almost real-time condition info" and "cognitive functions" like making some decisions for the maintenance of roads.

'Make it happen'

Though the digital twin is viewed by experts as the future of smart transportation, the tech can be hard to implement on an object as large as a high-way network.

"It's an urgent problem for the international community," said Li Deren, a member of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "We need to create digital twins for complicated transportation scenarios and monitor them precisely."

Li shared his research on how to "precisely describe the current situation and correctly predict the future."

He and his team built a data collection system with helmets, robot vehicles and drones, and boosted the collection speed by 16.5 percent compared to mainstream methods.

The team also combined different AI algorithms to help cars detect road signs, even if they are partially worn away.

Li's system has been applied in cities like Wuhan, Guangzhou and Nanjing to achieve smart responses to emergency events on the roads.

The system can also be applied to parking lots to achieve autonomous operation.

"Digital twin-based smart transportation is an important part of future infrastructure," Li said. "We should employ all tools we have to make it happen."

The World Transport Convention

Held yearly by China Association for Science and Technology in 2017, the World Transport Convention is a platform for international experts to discuss innovative ideas on transportation.

This year's convention spans from November 29 to December 4 with more than 170 online panels about green and low-carbon transportation technologies.

The panels on Tuesday morning drew more than 800,000 views.

(Cover image via CFP)