Cloud-Based Platform for Collaborative Design of Decentralized Controlled Material Flow Systems in Facility Logistics

Abstract

In order to cope with the increasing need for flexibility, today’s material flow systems move toward decentralized and modular approaches. However, operation and control of the majority of such systems are based on manufacturer-specific standards, thus resulting in the loss of their reusability and making the task of integrating two or more such systems a rather complex one. In this paper, we present a software platform for supporting collaboration between partners at designing and testing of heterogeneous decentralized controlled systems, prior to deployment. As a use case scenario, we demonstrate a virtual merge of two remote logistics labs, namely, an electric overhead monorail system pilot plant at institute fml of the Technical University of Munich and a conveyor system at institute FLW of the Technical University of Dortmund.