Emerson, a global automation company, has announced the release of the Ovation Curation Tool, a synchronization software designed for power and water control systems. The tool aims to simplify version control and maintain detailed change history between multiple Ovation systems and their corresponding digital twin simulations.
A primary challenge in managing digital twins is ensuring that the simulation model remains aligned with the actual production plant operations. Engineers and operators frequently modify production systems to address issues, enhance performance, or develop new strategies. These ongoing adjustments can cause the control system configuration to drift away from the digital twin model over time. Manually tracking and applying these changes is a labor-intensive process that consumes significant engineering hours.
The Ovation Curation Tool addresses this issue by automatically tracking changes to the control system. It allows for the rapid deployment of these changes to other control systems and simulations through an intuitive dashboard. The software can be configured to run at specific intervals, such as weekly or monthly, or on an ad-hoc basis, to identify and log modifications. This automation eliminates the need for manual comparisons and provides a detailed audit trail showing what changed, who made the change, and when it occurred.
Rick Kephart, vice president of technology for Emerson’s power and water business, noted that keeping digital twins synchronized with live systems has long been difficult. He stated that workforce shortages have made it harder to find and retain expert personnel to manage this task. The new tool is designed to help teams deliver lifecycle value by ensuring simulations remain relevant, thereby supporting improved training, testing, engineering, and forecasting.
Once changes are validated, users can initiate automated synchronization between the production system and the digital twin, or between the twin and other Ovation control systems. Before deployment, a simulation snapshot impact analysis tool details potential disruptions to the target system and suggests resolutions. The software uses a repository system to move data between the production system and the simulator while maintaining data synchronization. Multiple users can edit the same assets and merge their changes.
