A fast time-to-market does not really help if there are no quantifiable benefits and cybersecurity has not been taken into account in the planning phase. From SSV 's point of view, solid planning and a DevOps process chain with a development process that covers the entire life cycle of the application are therefore essential.

To help with these requirements, SSV will be presenting an adaptive building block concept for industrial IoT applications at the SPS. The central function block is a hardware-agnostic firmware for edge gateways. It has a customizable range of functions and can be used on various embedded platforms as well as in Docker containers. The components of the SFS modular system (Smart Factory Sensor) are available for sensor technology in conjunction with the SSB protocol (Secure Sensor Beacon). AI functions are integrated into the firmware using TensorFlow and TinyML. In terms of cybersecurity, various security levels are possible, which are based on the IEC 62443-4-1 directive.

The virtual IoT service assistant

As a practical application scenario, the company is presenting a virtual IoT service assistant for machines and systems at the trade fair, which, among other things, enables highly qualified online help in the event of a fault. In this example application, various machine components and sensors supply a range of operating data to a digital twin on an event-driven basis. This allows the current overall status to be visualized at any time, for example via a website. BLE beacons with status information are also periodically sent directly to the machine, which can be received on site via a smartphone app and displayed to the user. The app also generates automatic requests to a cloud service which, after analyzing the data, sends valuable contextual user information, such as maintenance information, back to the smartphone.

The modules are passed on by SSV as part of a license agreement for industrial IoT projects. This also includes a customized range of support services for the implementation and testing of all functions, practical use and the associated life cycle phases. This support service is particularly important to CEO Klaus-Dieter Walter, because "the use of suitable methods to identify and assess potential cyber risks for automation modules and to search for, implement and test suitable countermeasures should not be limited to the planning, development and project planning phases. It makes sense to methodically accompany the entire life cycle with appropriate user support through to final decommissioning and proper disposal. After all, a component with the firmware stored in flash plus the X.509 security certificates should not simply end up as electronic waste."

SPS 2022: Hall 6, Stand 150G