Phd in ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE FOR ENERGY
AND INDUSTRY

Thesis title: IoT e Digital Twin Applicato Agli Impianti Tecnici Di Edificio: Modelli Sperimentali Open Source

This thesis takes a critical and pragmatic approach to the digitisation of systems. Initially, basic building automation concepts were described, such as the main communication protocols for IoT applications, the most common system architectures and the hardware and software solutions available on the market. Subsequently, the most significant application activities carried out during the PhD and the experimental products were presented, divided into three macro topics: energy monitoring, home automation and digita twin. On the subject of energy monitoring, first the innovative “Level of Coverage” method for evaluating monitoring systems and how it was applied in an industrial context was presented, followed by the monitoring system developed for the LAMBDA laboratory and a distributed monitoring platform aimed at sharing anonymous consumption profiles with other research institutions. On the subject of home automation, a comparison was presented between two systems realised for similar case studies, one with KNX technology and one with a customised open source platform developed on the basis of the specific need, describing the strengths and weaknesses of both. Finally, with regard to the digital twin, a comparison of different technological solutions was presented, highlighting their areas of improvement. A new procedure, developed during the PhD course, for the integration of building automation systems directly into BIM models was then described (the result of which was called BIM ready to Digital Twin) and an experimental digital twin platform, again developed using open source technologies, capable of handling it. This platform also attempts to overcome the limitations identified in the previously studied solutions. Among the experimental activities, a classification proposal was also presented, which is able to concisely and effectively describe the functionality of digital twins of buildings and infrastructures, characterised by individual plant sectors.