A digital twin reference architecture for pharmaceutical cannabis production

Abstract

The production of pharmaceutical cannabis is a complex and dynamic industry that has to meet critical challenges concerning product quality, compliance, traceability, food safety, sustainability and health. Digital twins have the potential to be powerful enablers for producers to meet these challenges. However, digital twins for the pharmaceutical production of cannabis are still under exploration and not yet researched. This paper contributes to overcoming this situation by proposing a reference architecture for the development and implementation of digital twins in this domain. Based on a design-oriented methodology, it defines and applies a coherent set of architecture views for modelling digital twin-based systems. Furthermore, a proof of concept of an immersive digital twin has been developed in order to test the applicability of reference architecture. This digital twin is developed in the open, cross-industry platform Unity and includes an extensive 3D model of a cannabis production facility. It is connected with real-world data through an application programming interface integration displaying real-time sensor data from a live greenhouse. The 3D environment is fully explorable, where the user takes control of an avatar character to walk around the facility and view real-time sensor readings. The expert validation shows that the developed digital twin is a valuable and innovative first step for remote management of pharmaceutical cannabis production. Further developments are needed to leverage its full potential, especially adding more types of sensor data, developing implementation-specific 3D models, extending the digital twin with predictive and prescriptive capabilities and connecting it to actuators.