Embedded Software Development with Digital Twins: Specific Requirements for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The transformation to Industry 4.0 changes the way embedded software systems are developed. Digital twins have the potential for cost-effective software development and maintenance strategies. With reduced costs and faster development cycles, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have the chance to grow with new smart products. We interviewed SMEs about their current development processes. In this paper, we present the first results of these interviews. First results show that real-time requirements prevent, to date, a Software-in-the-Loop development approach, due to a lack of proper tooling. Security/safety concerns, and the accessibility of hardware are the main impediments. Only temporary access to the hardware leads to Software-in-the-Loop development approaches based on simulations/emulators. Yet, this is not in all use cases possible. All interviewees see the potential of Software-in-the-Loop approaches and digital twins with regard to quality and customization. One reason it will take some effort to convince engineers, is the conservative nature of the embedded community, particularly in SMEs.

I. Introduction

The popularity of digital twins (DT) increased in the past several years. Both, for monitoring machines in production, and for the development process. With the development of DTs, advanced methods and architectures facilitate opportunities to change the competition in traditional markets, most notably in the automation and process technology. Introducing new or advanced processes in large companies with over time grown structures can be laborious. Especially, if various departments and decision makers are involved. Although these companies may have large development teams, they do not develop new products from scratch and mostly have to use enterprise-wide technology stacks.