Building the Battery Digital Twin Together: FreeTwin EV Workshop at LCM

A particular highlight in February 2026 was the visit of our project partners from STU and UTWENTE, along with senior and junior researchers from both universities to LCM. The main impetus for the on-site meeting was a workshop initiated by Marcus Pessoa, in which Systems Engineering methods were systematically applied to Digital Twin development, especially to the Digital Twin of the Battery Pack developed in the technical part of FreeTwinEV. Marcus was strongly supported by Jorge Perez Garcia, who is currently exploring the application of MBSE to Digital Twins in his master’s thesis. 

The workshop centered on collaborative content development. We began by describing the Digital Twin as a black box, concentrating purely on the functions it is intended to provide to its users. Building on this functional perspective, we then progressively moved toward a more detailed view, breaking the system down into its physical components and functional sub-units, and examining how their interactions enable the fulfillment of the specified requirements. This structured approach sparked lively discussions and opened up valuable new perspectives.  

Beyond the main workshop, the in-person meeting also provided the opportunity for a workshop led by Barbara Hartl. During this session, participants were able to work hands-on with the optimization platform SyMSpace developed at LCM, which is also used within the project for parameter identification. Further meetings were dedicated to preparing the upcoming Summer School, scheduled to take place at LCM in May, as well as to exchanging ideas on planned publications, joint Horizon Europe proposals, and the latest updates on the technical work package of the project. 

All in all, we look back on a week of intensive and productive exchange, not only during the scheduled meetings, but also in the spontaneous conversations over coffee and lunch. While online meetings have become routine, they simply cannot replace the depth and impact of face-to-face interaction. 

Thank you to all the engaged participants:

UTWENTE: Marcus Pessoa, Jorge Perez Garcia, Sai (online) 

STU Administration: Mária Bujnova (online) 

STU FEI: Gabriel Galik, Martin Bata, Milan Plzák, Michal Miloslav Uličný, Andrej Ürge 

STU MTF: Maria Behulova, Rastislav Ďuriš, David Michal 

ADDSEN: Peter Beno (online) 

LCM: Bernd Winkler, Markus Schörgenhumer, Peter Ladern, Rainer Haas, Barbara Hartl, Sencer Yücesan, Paula Reimer