Build Your Own Digital Twin: BelSU Scientists Put Simulation Technology Within Reach

The project, titled Development of Technologies for the Analysis and Synthesis of Complex Dynamic Systems, is being implemented with support from the Priority‑2030 programme. The team is led by Doctor of Engineering Sciences Alexander Zhikharev and includes Professor Sergey Matorin, the author of the system‑object approach theory, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students who are contributing to the research.

At the core of the project lies a unique Russian theory of system‑object modelling. The researchers have learned to describe any complex process – whether it involves metal manufacturing or office document flow – as a set of interconnected “units,” each representing a separate element with its own function. This approach has given rise to the UFOModeler software platform, whose name reflects its guiding principle: modelling based on the “unit‑function‑object” concept.

UFOModeler allows users to construct visual models using pre‑built blocks, describe the logic of interactions, and then run simulations to observe system behaviour over time. Results are displayed as clear graphs and diagrams, making analysis highly transparent. The platform also supports simulations at different time scales and visualisation of model parameters through dependency graphs.

The main advantage of UFOModeler is its versatility and flexibility. Unlike many foreign alternatives, it can model objects of entirely different natures – from business processes and logistics to the operation of microchips and electronic components.

The technology is already being actively used in education. Students at BelSU can study processor circuits or data buses by launching interactive models and monitoring data flow in real time. The platform is also being used in consulting to optimise document flow in real companies.

For businesses and manufacturers, UFOModeler enables cost optimisation and risk‑free testing of new management systems. In fundamental science, digital twins are indispensable where experiments on real objects are impossible or dangerous – for example, in nuclear physics or ecology.

The project’s industrial partner is SoftConnect, a Belgorod‑based company that sells software licences and makes this cutting‑edge technology available to businesses across Russia. More information about the programme is available at: https://ufomodeler.ru/

The creation of this digital twin tool by scientists at Belgorod State University’s Institute of Engineering and Digital Technologies was reported by the portal of the Sociocentre, the operator of Russia’s largest state development programmes in science and higher education.