Align system capabilities

An intelligent control system determines the available manufacturing capabilities of the production system. It distributes the submodels of the product to be manufactured to the individual systems so that production can begin.

© Phoenix Contact

Ideally, asset administration shells should run directly on your asset. If this is not possible, proxy asset administration shells can also be outsourced. In this case, the interaction between the asset and the asset administration shell is realized via smartphone.

© Phoenix Contact

In the second scenario, data is exchanged between the intelligent control system and the connected production facilities. Initially, only the production systems were equipped with openAAS administration shells. The associated control system communicates directly with the AAS via OPC UA. In the first step, the production control system receives the digital model of the product to be manufactured as an AutomationML file from the engineering department. It then derives the necessary production steps from the digital model on the basis of rule-based closing. The AAS of the production systems contain, among other things, the production steps available in the respective system as an assurance. The control system then queries the available production steps from all connected AAS. If the required and available production steps match, the control system distributes the submodels of the product to be manufactured to the individual systems and production can begin.

In addition to the production steps, the capacity utilization of the systems is to be taken into account in future. In this way, the control system can not only decide whether the product can be manufactured, but also by when. This approach allows the customer to submit a digital model of the desired product as a request to the manufacturer's web platform via a configurator or an engineering tool. From there, the digital model is sent via the ERP system to the production control systems, which can then independently determine whether and by when the product can be produced. The result is reported back to the ERP system, which adds the price of the product to the information. In this way, the customer receives information about the delivery date and costs within a short time.

Manage configuration data

The third use case deals with the topic of proxy asset administration shells. Ideally, the AAS is located directly on the asset, but this is not always possible. In the 'SEAP 4.0' scenario, a power supply serves as an example. Although the device can be configured via NFC (Near Field Communication), it is otherwise not capable of communication apart from signaling outputs. In this case, the corresponding AAS can also be located elsewhere, for example in the system operator's IT system. However, it must be possible to establish a connection between the AAS and the asset. For this purpose, the configuration app for the power supply has been expanded so that it can take on this task. The configuration data read in via NFC is now forwarded from the app to the AAS via WLAN or mobile radio. For this purpose, all configuration features are fully modeled as PVS within the AAS.

However, if the data in the asset administration shell changes, the app receives the new data from the AAS and the user is prompted by the app to transfer the update to the asset. In this way, the configuration states in the AAS and the asset always remain synchronized. The advantage for the system operator is that configuration no longer has to be carried out via a special app. It is also possible to make changes directly in the AAS from any location, although this requires transmission via a mobile device. In order to transfer live data from the power supply to the AAS, the 'SEAP 4.0' project chose the route via a controller. For this purpose, the signal outputs of the power supply were connected to the inputs of a fieldbus system whose controller is connected to the AAS via OPC UA and continuously sends updated data to it.

Author:
Olaf Graeser is an employee in the Corporate Technology & Value Chain department at Phoenix Contact in Blomberg.

Describe ideas of the administration shell

openAAS is one of the first projects to deal with the realization of a real administration shell in accordance with the concepts of the Industry 4.0 platform. The result is a prototype that is very well suited for testing and as a basis for discussion for further approaches. The most important work is the 'Administration shell in detail' and 'Administration shell in concrete terms' documents. They aim to describe the idea of the Administration Shell in such a way that it can be implemented by development teams. Different focal points were set: The document 'Administration Shell in detail' defines the metamodel, i.e. technical details such as the structure, identifiers or features. In contrast, the 'Administration Shell in Concrete Terms' deals with the content of submodels, for example the definition of overarching basic submodels or the independent development of submodels by users. Industry 4.0 is thus developing from an abstract idea into a realizable technology.