Master's thesis project suggestion

Data Integration in Digital Twin Cities

Background

The Digital Twin Cities Centre (DTCC) was launched in 2020. As part of the work of this centre, we want to investigate the use of advanced database technologies in addressing the challenges that arise when trying to integrate diverse kinds of data into a city information model.

These challenges include:

• How to combine representations across many scales?
• How to combine data with different resolutions?
• How to model changes and growth over time?
• How to analyse data to understand systems?
• How to map data to 3D reference models?
• How to bring in new data from outside our initial areas of interest?
• How to deal with variety and complexity of data?
• How to handle ownership of information?
• How to ensure that information are well documented and useable?
• How to establish confidence for the information so users can rely on the digital twin and the information within?
• How to handle safety related information?

Project description

Various projects are available, many to be undertaken in collaboration with colleagues at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, with colleagues at the GATE Institute, or the DTCC's partners.

Relevant technologies

Semantic Web, graph databases, ontologies.

References

• Vilgertshofer, S., Amann, J., Willenborg, B., Borrmann, A., & Kolbe, T. H. (2017). Linking BIM and GIS Models in Infrastructure by Example of IFC and CityGML. In Computing in Civil Engineering 2017 (pp. 133-140).
• Nguyen, S. H., Yao, Z., & Kolbe, T. H. (2017). Spatio-semantic comparison of large 3D city models in CityGML using a graph database. In Proceedings of the 12th International 3D GeoInfo Conference 2017 (pp. 99-106).

Special prerequisites

The course "Advanced databases" (Chalmers: DAT475, GU: DIT930) is recommended.

Suggestion author

Graham Kemp