Integrating drones with digital twins for aerial remote sensing

Abstract

Drones are highly autonomous, remote-controlled platforms capable of performing a variety of tasks in diverse environments. A digital twin (DT) is a virtual replica of a physical system. The integration of DT with drones gives the opportunity to manipulate the drone during a mission. In this paper, the architecture of DT is presented in order to explain how the physical environment can be represented. The techniques via which drones are collecting the necessary information for DT are compared as a next step to introduce the main methods that have been applied in DT progress by drones. The findings of this research indicated that the process of incorporating DTs into drones will result in the advancement of readings from all sensors, control code and intelligence. This can be executed on the DTs, remote control for the performance of complex tasks in a variety of application environments, and simulation on the DTs without having an effect on the actual drone. On the other hand, in order to develop three-dimensional representations of structures and construction sites, a method known as photogrammetry is used to generate these models employing drones as aerial scanners. In spite of this, there are a number of technological and social-political obstacles that should be taken in consideration. These challenges include the interoperability of different sensors, the creation of efficiently optimized data processing algorithms, and concerns over data privacy and security.