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Digital Twins

This page describes the collection of digital twin platforms available on HiPerGator. Digital twins are virtual representations of real-world objects, environments, and systems. The goal of a digital twin is to mirror the behavior and attributes of its real-world counterpart for the purposes of training, data realization, and iterative development. Research Computing provides access to essential infrastructures, tools, and programs to facilitate the creation and visualization of digital twins.

Access to Digital Twin Programs on HiPerGator

Digital twins are computationally demanding and generally require dedicated resources to provide the consistent availability that is necessary for their visualization and utilization. Our solution on HiPerGator is OVX, a specialized cluster built for digital twin development and accessibility. While many programs and tools such as Unreal and Omniverse have limited compatibility with normal HiPerGator GPU resources, OVX provides low-latency access to a desktop environment that is specifically designed to handle demanding visualization and simulation efforts. Click here to learn more about OVX. Inquiries regarding OVX availability can be directed towards AI support or consulting.

Platforms for Digital Twins

  • Omniverse: Omniverse is an encompassing title for a myriad of apps and tools primarily developed using the [Omniverse Kit SDK]. Omniverse apps have enabled many of the leading efforts in the field of digital twins as they provide easy access to a plethora of tools important for their creation, such as physically informed 3D environments, robust rendering and display pipelines, and a highly customizable extension system compatible with C++ and Python. For more information about Omniverse, visit Nvidia's site, or the official Omniverse documentation. Omniverse is currently supported on HiPerGator through OVX, and can most conveniently accessed through Nvidia's kit-app-template.

  • Isaac Sim: Isaac Sim is a pre-built Omniverse application that is focused primarily on the development and simulation of robotics in physically-informed virtual environments. It allows for accessible prototyping of robotics that can be trained in realistic 3D environments and provides interfaces for simulated sensors, such as cameras, LiDAR, and contact sensors. It supports common robotics formats such as Onshape and URDF, and has APIs for communicating to ROS 2 for live connections. For more information and to download, visit Isaac Sim's official documentation. Isaac Sim is currently supported on HiPerGator through OVX.

  • Unreal Engine: Unreal Engine is a world leader in the space of simulated 3D environments due to a consistently maintained set of powerful tools built for rendering, lighting, physical simulation, user interactivity, and so on. While not as customizable as other options, Unreal is promising as a singular solution for the construction of simulations and twins, and is backed by years of experience and strong community support. For more information about Unreal Engine or to download, visit the official Unreal Engine site. Unreal Engine is currently supported on HiPerGator through OVX.