Gianfranco E. Modoni

A survey of RDF store solutions

This paper analyzes the potential of Semantic Web technologies to support innovation in industrial scenarios. The study focuses in particular on RDF stores, the software components dedicated to the storage, representation and retrieval of semantic information. Starting from a literature review, a qualitative analysis is carried out considering a set of these systems. RDF stores are evaluated to find the implementations that are best suited to play the role of backbone in a software architecture sharing information between the software tools adopted by the various stakeholders. This can be achieved if the architecture overcomes the problems deriving from the lack of integration between the involved software applications, providing in this way an integrated view on relevant engineering knowledge.

Enhancing factory data integration through the development of an ontology: from the reference models reuse to the semantic conversion of the legacy models

Data integration is one of the most crucial challenges for current manufacturing companies. Indeed, while the extended use of software tools generate more and more data about products, processes, and production resources, still this huge amount of data is represented using different formats and non-aligned structures. This issue is worsened by the fact that data can be found scattered in not linked databases and hosted in mutually incompatible systems. The growing need to access these data and the knowledge that they encapsulate on a global view from different perspectives is addressed by various approaches in order to support the integration between involved systems. This paper deals with the applicability of Semantic Web technologies in industrial context to enhance semantic interoperability. In particular, it proposes a systematic approach to support the development of a semantic model, focusing on the combination of two main critical aspects: the reuse of existing reference models and the semantic migration of the existing legacy models. Even both the aspects have been separately studied in previous research works and even their overlap is recurring during the stage of ontology development, to the best of our knowledge the literature is missing studies covering the synergistic and automatic combination of these two aspects within a holistic approach. The application possibilities of the approach are also investigated within a real case study from a high-precision mould-making company; thus demonstrating its feasibility for use in complex manufacturing contexts.

Exploiting Factory Telemetry to Support Virtual Reality Simulation in Robotics Cell

Significant efforts of the current manufacturing companies are devoted to the implementation of the full synchronization between the real world at the shop-floor level and its digital counterpart (so-called Digital Twin). Indeed, a true reflection of the real factory can be exploited to monitor and simulate the factory performance, allowing to adjust and optimize processes, anticipate failures and also investigate problems. One of the major challenge to be tackled in order to realize the Digital Twin is the handling of the factory telemetry, which can track the evolution of the objects in the real world. This paper investigates the potential of an application for supporting and handling the factory telemetry, thus allowing to create a snapshot of the real system that can dynamically augment and enhance the data-driven simulation applications supporting the manufacturing execution phase. As a proof of concept of the architecture, a prototype has been developed in the field of robotics. In such context, the proposed architecture is on the basis of a Virtual Reality tool to simulate human presence for development of safety systems in robotic cells.

Lightweight Augmented Reality Tools for Lean Procedures in Future Factories

The aim of this paper is to introduce the main outcomes of the application of Augmented Reality (AR) features to manufacturing and industrial scenarios under a new perspective. While the request of industrial mixed reality technologies is continuously growing, the research community is still facing the crucial challenge to give a convenient answer to such needs. The problem of the development of adaptable and inexpensive AR solutions is herein addressed by proposing a new approach for the application of AR technology to lean-based visual communication transfer and exchange. This work starts from the concept of virtual factory, a place where the real production of future factories becomes fully merged with virtual reality features and utilities. AR applications may then be reinterpreted as lightweight tools that continuously interact with the virtual factory to support manufacturing and management tasks, providing just-in-time and adaptive augmented information to users. As a case study, several AR tools designed following these principles to support a real production process are presented.

Semantic based events signaling for AAL systems

The synergistic cooperation of a set of different devices is still one of the major open issues in designing the new generation of collaborative AAL system. To contribute to fill this gap, this paper introduces Semantic Events Notifier (SEN), a lightweight prototype of semantic-based and agent-oriented middleware that aims to provide near real-time events notification among all the enabled devices of an AAL system. The idea behind this research work goes in the direction to find scalable technological solution to answer the continued growth of objects connected to the IoT network, in particular, within the domestic environment. SEN enables the involved Smart Objects to cooperate synergistically based on a shared semantic model, thus contributing to support various tailored services that assist elderly users or users with disabilities for a better and healthier life in their preferred living environment. Moreover, a prototype of the platform has been implemented and validated to prove the correctness of the approach. Finally, the evaluation of its quality of service requirements in terms of latency, efficiency, and scalability has been conducted in a real case study by means of a defined benchmark.

Semantic Knowledge Management and Integration Services for AAL

The integration of a set of heterogeneous data streams coming from different source into a coherent scheme is still one of the key challenges in designing the new generation of AAL system enabling the Smart Home. This paper introduces a service-oriented platform that aims to enhance data integration and synchronization between physical and virtual components of an AAL system. The idea behind this research work goes in the direction to find scalable technological solution in order to answer the continued growth of objects (Things) connected to the network within the domestic environment. Thus, the Smart Objects can operate synergistically on the basis of a shared semantic model, supporting various tailored services that assist elderly users or users with disabilities for a better and healthier life in their preferred living environment. Moreover, a prototype of the platform has been implemented and validated in order to prove the correctness of the approach and conduct a preliminary performance evaluation.