From Testbed to Simulation: A Unified Emulation Framework for IoT-Based Digital Twins
Open accessAbstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) and Digital Twins (DT) are increasingly being integrated to enable continuous optimization and monitoring across various domains. However, the development and operation of DT solutions for IoT systems remain challenging due to the cost and risk of working with physical assets. This paper introduces a dual-layered framework that leverages emulation at two distinct stages of the DT lifecycle. Emulation-as-testbed positions an emulation platform as a pre-deployment sandbox during the development phase, decoupling the DT development from physical asset availability. Emulation-as-simulation extends this by allowing DT users to run high-fidelity what-if scenarios during the operational phase, reusing the monitoring capabilities already present in the DT. Furthermore, both approaches can share the same emulation engine, avoiding the need for separate components. We validate the framework through a proof-of-concept integrating a physical and an emulated ESP32, demonstrating that the DT monitoring infrastructure requires no modification across both lifecycle phases. This framework offers a practical path towards reducing the cost and risk of developing and operating DT solutions for IoT systems.
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- Authors
- Tudorache, L., Kurtev, I., & van den Brand, M.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Venue
- Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE 29th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2026-10-04
- Pages
- 510-514
- OpenAlex
- W7220422573
- Semantic Scholar
- 86f1f6376e66b3d3ed0101fe238803076569b850
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 24
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- ACM/IEEE International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (Horizon Europe) (101095634)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Digital Transformation in Industry
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation Systems
- Keywords
- digital twin, Internet of Things, testbed, simulation, what-if scenarios, IoT monitoring, ESP32 microcontroller
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