Communication Protocol Application for Enhanced Connectivity of Sensors, Machines and Systems in Additive Manufacturing and Production Networks

Abstract

The connection between sensors, systems and machines in the production environment enables new concepts to increase quality or flexibility. Integrated sensors can measure machine performance parameters. The measurements serve for monitoring of process stability and quality or for affecting production planning through a new agile routing. To realize the new concepts, data needs to be transmitted from the sensors to a data management system, where the collected data can be analyzed and stored. The communication between sensors, machines and systems is a central aspect and, therefore, a big challenge. There exist different protocols to enable communication, but choosing the proper protocol for a special use case is difficult. There does not exist a method that supports the choice of the protocol depending on the initial situation and the user’s preferences. Therefore, the aim of this paper is the development and implementation of a method that supports the selection of a communication protocol in an Industrie 4.0 surrounding for enhanced connectivity between sensors, systems and machines in the production depending on the individual initial situation and the personal preferences. After a short motivation and state of the art, two use cases are described and the development of the concept is explained. The following implementation shows the realization of the concept and enables the use of the concept on the two use cases. The paper ends with a conclusion and outlook.