Jan Christoph Wehrstedt

Early Validation of Automation Plant Control Software using Simulation Based on Assumption Modeling and Validation Use Cases

In automation plants, technical processes must be conducted in a way that products, substances, or services are produced reliably, with sufficient qual- ity and with minimal strain on resources. A key driver in conducting these pro- cesses is the automation plants control software, which controls the technical plant components and thereby affects the physical, chemical, and mechanical processes that take place in automation plants. To this end, the control software of an automation plant must adhere to strict process requirements arising from the technical processes, and from the physical plant design. Currently, the vali- dation of the control software often starts late in the engineering process in many cases - once the automation plant is almost completely constructed. However, as widely acknowledged, the later the control software of the automa- tion plant is validated, the higher the effort for correcting revealed defects is, which can lead to serious budget overruns and project delays. In this article we propose an approach that allows the early validation of automation control software against the technical plant processes and assumptions about the physi- cal plant design by means of simulation. We demonstrate the application of our approach on the example of an actual plant project from the automation industry

Application and Evaluation in the Automation Domain

Whether in the manufacturing or processing industry, in mechanical engineering, in transportation, or in logistics automation engineering plays a key role in controlling and structuring complex systems.

Co-simulation techniques in assistance systems for process control

The penetration of production systems and common infrastructure with information and communication technologies (ICT) creates new systems, called Smart Grids in energy or Industry 4.0 in production. This offers unprecedented opportunities for flexible and customized production and distribution. However, these complex and interconnected systems need new approaches for operation. Assistance system similar to those known from the automotive sector will support operators in their task to provide a safe, efficient and undisturbed operation of production systems. The paper supports, that more complex functionalities of assistance systems are based on simulation. This paper discusses the question how well co-simulation approaches are suited for this task. Co-simulation is the joint simulation of independent simulators each representing a component or subsystem of the overall system. The modularity of co-simulation reflects the modularity of production systems. It is possible to compose a simulation by using existing models. It is easy to adapt co-simulation to different configurations of production systems or changes in topology. The inherent flexibility of co-simulation makes it possible to cover broad range of requirements regarding, among others, simulation speed and precision. Co-simulation further allows to include models as “black boxes” which can be used to protect intellectual property on the modeled components. However, co-simulation always comes with additional costs for communication. Data exchange between models sets upper bounds for simulation speed. This limits the application of co-simulation: If requirements on calculation speed are very high other approaches like hybrid simulations are more suitable. For very precise simulations parallel simulation may be appropriate.