Asset Administration Shell Modelling and Implementation Enabling Plug and Produce Capabilities for Modular Production

Abstract

Mass customization approach requires low-volume, high-mix production schemes, leading to the creation and industrial uptake of highly flexible and modular production lines capable of processing a wide range of products. Towards that end, flexibility of reconfiguration and responsiveness of production plants needs to be increased. Digital technologies can make a significant contribution in making production systems more flexible for modular production. Reconfigurability and interoperability between automated industrial systems and Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) can be achieved by implementing a Digital Twin based on Asset Administration Shell (AAS) and formal definitions found in the I4.0, IIoT and IDTA standards. The AAS modelling containing a machine-readable, semantically unambiguous self-description metamodels needs to be supported by a software infrastructure capable to orchestrate the different assets. This paper presents an implementation of AAS modelling based on the relation of the main production assets –Product, Process and Resources (PPR model)– allowing the dynamic creation of process chains and reconfigurations, as well as up-to-date virtual representation of the Product by deploying a Digital Thread able to trace and orchestrate the data generated along the product lifecycle.