Thomas Hadlich

Providing device integration with OPC UA

OPC UA allows the company wide access and integration of information. One important part of this information system is the automation system and its automation devices. The important issue for presenting devices in such an enterprise system is standardization of device representation. This document provides a proposal on how to standardize the presentation of devices based on a comparison of existing device integration technologies.

Enhancing a model-based engineering approach for distributed manufacturing automation systems with characteristics and design patterns

A model-based engineering (MBE) approach for distributed automation systems is proposed.The approach allows considering non-functional requirements along the workflow.The approach combines notation, explicit characteristics and design patterns.The approach has been evaluated by case studies.The approach has proven to be advantageous compared to classical approaches. Recent trends in modern manufacturing, such as the growing need for flexibility and the increasing degree of automation in industrial facilities, require distributed control solutions. Implementations of such control schemas and underlying architectures come along with an exponential increase of the automation systems complexity. Therefore, methods for supporting automation engineers during the development processes are highly required. This paper presents an approach to supporting model-based engineering (MBE) of distributed manufacturing automation systems. The approach is based on the combination of notation, characteristics, and design patterns across multiple levels of an adapted development process. Accordingly, a prototypical support tool has been implemented. The modeling approach has been evaluated by case studies and additional usability experiments to determine the benefit of its application within the design of manufacturing automation systems. Display Omitted

Common communication model for distributed automation systems

Existing models focus on specific aspects of distributed automation systems, e.g. communication aspects (IEC 61158) or application aspects (IEC 61131–3). Systems like IEC 61499 are directly dedicated to distributed applications but leave essential details of communication integration open. For the design of distributed automation systems it is necessary to understand the behavior of the complete system. This contribution introduces a concise model of distributed automation systems integrating communication layer of the OSI reference model with the non-distributed model of IEC 61131–3.

Design patterns for distributed automation systems with consideration of non-functional requirements

The consequence of the increase of automation and therefore the growing complexity of automation tasks is a necessity for using distributed control architectures. This implicates a support for developers in the engineering of such distributed automation systems. For this reason, this paper focuses on the design support of distributed automation systems by use of design patterns. Important aspects are the consideration of non-functional requirements in design patterns and the integration of design patterns into the engineering workflow. This paper presents a design pattern template which supports developers with predefined automation functions which are assigned to a system function and in their selection of an appropriate distribution of automation functions, taking relevant non-functional requirements into account.

Typical automation functions and their distribution in automation systems

The reutilization of proven automation solutions for automation systems is an essential approach to increase the profitability of engineering services. Additionally, distributed systems are increasingly important in automation systems. For this reason, this paper focuses on the aspect of distributed systems combined with the reutilization of automation tasks and solutions in the domains of process and production automation. To address this purpose the research project “Functional application design of Distributed Automation systems” (FAVA) was launched. This paper presents the objective of this research project, identifies deficits of the state-of-the-art and describes automation systems which have been analyzed in the FAVA project to identify automation tasks and their variants regarding to the distribution.

Dealing with non-functional requirements in distributed control systems engineering

Industrial production plants are highly complex mechatronic systems. In todays automation systems a trend for distribution of control functions can be observed. The hereby emerging challenges lead to delays and interruptions in automation projects. Especially non-functional requirements are hard to specify for later engineering phases. Therefore, a holistic engineering approach will be developed. As a first step, important challenges for the development of distributed automation systems are identified in this paper. Based on this, non-functional requirements derived from an information science point of view are adapted to the specifics of automation technology.

Tool support for the development of IEC 62390 compliant fieldbus profiles

Industrial communication systems standardize communication protocols and services. Interoperability within automation and control systems need additional application definitions. This is usually organized with fieldbus profile specifications. Profiles become part of the overall development process of the device manufacturer. Unfortunately, todays profile descriptions are very informal and have nearly no support for the development process. This paper presents a semi-formal profile specification approach, based on IEC 62390 and using a mixed UML and MS Word process. Result of both specifications is an XML representation which can be integrated in the device development process. This method is developed for the PROFIBUS User Organisation for PROFIBUS and PROFINET device profiles.

Semantic Industry: Herausforderungen auf dem Weg zur rechnergestützten Informationsverarbeitung der Industrie 4.0

Zusammenfassung Die Interpretation des Konzepts von Industrie 4.0 ist vielschichtig und abhängig davon, ob aus der Sicht des Maschinen- oder Anlagenbaus, von der IT Branche oder von der Automatisierungstechnik an das Thema herangegangen wird. Es ist jedoch klar zu erkennen, dass die systemweit eindeutig definierte Semantik aller gemeinschaftlich genutzten Daten zwingend erforderlich ist. Ausgangspunkt der Überlegungen ist eine Gruppierung von I40-Komponenten, welche die Eigentümer der Daten sind. Diese sind Bestandteile von Cyber-Physical-Systems (CPS), in denen sie Dienste anbieten, um zusammen mit IT-orientierten Diensten neue Wertschöpfungsketten zu bilden. Alle Dienste und Dienstinhalte müssen dafür semantisch eindeutig definiert sein. Anhand von Produkt-, Prozess- und Ressourcen-Modell (PPR-Modell) und dem Datenmodell der VDI/VDE 3682-Richtlinie wird beispielhaft dargestellt, wie die Informationen über Industrie-4.0-Komponenten semantisch eindeutig beschrieben werden können. Es wird dargestellt wie diese Beschreibung auch für die Daten der I40-Dienste verwendet werden kann. Dadurch steigt der Grad der Fähigkeit, semantisch eindeutige Daten maschinell zu verarbeiten.

Workflow and decision support for the design of distributed automation systems

Distribution of automation functions onto several controllers has become a widely applied answer to the demands of huge and complex automated systems. Distributed networked automation systems offer advantages regarding various nonfunctional requirements, such as flexibility, availability and maintainability. On the other hand, they impose additional challenges, e.g. for fulfilling the real-time requirements. Control engineers face difficulties in coping with all non-functional requirements when designing distributed networked automation systems, as there are trade-offs between them. A complete and detailed model of the automation system, including all computation and network effects, is usually not available. Therefore, control engineers have a demand for support when making design decisions for distributed networked automation systems. In this contribution, the authors propose an engineering workflow which allows dealing with the design decisions and the non-functional requirements in an appropriate order, and underpins the need for additional support regarding design alternatives.

Using contact points to integrate discipline spanning real-time requirements in modeling Networked Automation Systems for manufacturing systems

In terms of fulfilling the requirements of modern production systems, Networked Automation Systems (NAS) have gained increasing significance for automation engineering over the past years. The advantages of, e.g. enhanced dependability, flexibility and configurability, outweigh various shortcomings of centralized control systems. To engineer such complex systems, several modeling languages have been developed. To realize an integrated development process of NAS we present an approach to model discipline independent real-time requirements. This approach considers some discipline specific models in different notations.