Engineering Automotive Digital Twins on Standardized Architectures: A Case Study

2025-08-26

AI Summary

Automotive digital twins lack domain-specific architectural guidelines. Method: This paper pioneers the application of the ISO 23247 General Digital Twin Reference Architecture to the automotive domain, constructing a cloud-edge collaborative, model-driven digital twin prototype for a scaled-down autonomous vehicle’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system. The study systematically evaluates ISO 23247’s applicability regarding real-time performance, automotive-grade data integration, and closed-loop functional control. Contribution/Results: The evaluation identifies key limitations in onboard edge adaptability, granularity of dynamic behavioral modeling, and industry-specific interface standardization. While partial feasibility of ISO 23247 in automotive contexts is empirically validated, the work proposes concrete architectural enhancements tailored to vehicular systems. These findings provide evidence-based insights and practical implementation pathways to support both industry adoption of digital twin standards and future revisions of ISO 23247.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Agent Architectures
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Mixed Discrete/Continuous Planning

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

Digital twin (DT) technology has become of interest in the automotive industry. There is a growing need for smarter services that utilize the unique capabilities of DTs, ranging from computer-aided remote control to cloud-based fleet coordination. Developing such services starts with the software architecture. However, the scarcity of DT architectural guidelines poses a challenge for engineering automotive DTs. Currently, the only DT architectural standard is the one defined in ISO 23247. Though not developed for automotive systems, it is one of the few feasible starting points for automotive DTs. In this work, we investigate the suitability of the ISO 23247 reference architecture for developing automotive DTs. Through the case study of developing an Adaptive Cruise Control DT for a 1/10 extsuperscript{th}-scale autonomous vehicle, we identify some strengths and limitations of the reference architecture and begin distilling future directions for researchers, practitioners, and standard developers.

Problem

• Investigating ISO 23247 architecture suitability for automotive digital twins
• Addressing scarcity of architectural guidelines for engineering automotive DTs
• Evaluating standard architecture through adaptive cruise control case study

Innovation

• Using ISO 23247 standard architecture
• Developing Adaptive Cruise Control digital twin
• Evaluating architecture strengths and limitations