A scalable digital twin for vertical farming

Abstract

Digital twins transform agriculture with three-dimensional replicas of governable physical objects and intelligent collaboration for a sustainable bioeconomy. However, their success depends on (1) scaling up resiliency in industry-ready solutions, (2) evaluating performance in near real-time monitoring of the agri-food infrastructure, and (3) delivering design guidelines and field instantiations to inspire the practitioners. This work addresses these challenges in a two-year-long design science research, aiming to reach industrial demonstration technology readiness (TRL7) in a vertical farm structure supported by digital twin technology. Vertical farms pose new challenges for agriculture, taking advantage of three-dimensional productive spaces that change over time. Furthermore, digital twins reveal the potential to warrant more rational use of resources, food protection, prevention of disruptions, and food product traceability. For design-time scalability, this research defines the digital twin requirements for vertical farms and identifies the necessary conditions for the operational environment. For run-time scalability, the study reveals a physical and digital infrastructure that managers can use to develop their vision for vertical farming in more uncertain environments, demanding resiliency and near real-time optimization.